Born Free USA United with API
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 946187633
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Silver Spring, MD, USA
- Phone
- 3014481407
- Rating
- 69
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Alliance/Advocacy Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $8,346,516
- Expenses
- $2,819,809
- Assets
- $7,725,871
- Liabilities
- $451,908
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Angela Grimes (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- Angela Grimes (CEO): $153,726 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our vision is a co-existent future where humans no longer exploit wild animals. We work to ensure that all wild animals, whether living in captivity or in the wild, are treated with compassion and respect and are able to live their lives according to their needs.
What it reported doing in 2025
Born Free USA raised awareness on the public health and safety, animal welfare, conservation, and biodiversity issues associated with keeping wild animals in captivity and worked to increase legislative support to further restrict the private keeping of exotic wildlife to reduce instances of human injury and death, zoonotic disease transfer, invasive species, and the loss of threatened wildlife. The organization released research on the exploitation of animals as classroom pets and the harm caused by holding great apes captive in zoos. Born Free USA also embarked on a long-term project of in-depth research into United States zoos, with a focus on animal welfare provision, conservation contribution, and educational value of captive animal facilities. The project will be rolled out over two years and will combine research and undercover investigation. The organization used social media, mainstream media, and educational outreach materials to advance its charitable purposes, with resources including scientific reports, infographics, and webinars. It maintains an interactive database of deadly and dangerous captive wild animal incidents to shed light on the magnitude of the issue of captive exotic animals, along with a database of trap-related injuries and deaths to make the public aware of the dangers of traps to wildlife, pets, and humans on public and private lands.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 49
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 78
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 27.1%; rating input score 27
- Program expense ratio: 79.7%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $23.15 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 66.2%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.74; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.5%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 27.1% of revenue deployed · 79.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $154K · 9 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $233K reported
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 27/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.