Buffalo Field Campaign Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 363964401
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
- Location
- West Yellowstone, MT, USA
- Phone
- 4066460070
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Natural Resources Conservation and Protection
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $403,022
- Expenses
- $304,747
- Assets
- $860,730
- Liabilities
- $12,310
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JUSTINE SANCHEZ (President)
- DALLAS GUDGELL (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- JUSTINE SANCHEZ (President): $27,000 total reported compensation
- MICHAEL MEASE (Chairman): $26,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To protect the natural habitat of wild migratory buffalo and native wildlife, to stop the slaughter and harassment of america's last wild buffalo as well as to advocate for their lasting protection, and to work with people of all nations to honor the sacredness of the wild
What it reported doing in 2025
Frontlines defense of yellowstone bison - buffalo field campaign's core program is the operaton of the daily field patrols along bison migration corridors near the boundries of yellowstone national park. Patrols operate during the times of year when bison are in Montana. Volunteers equipped with still and video cameras document every action taken against buffalo and the toll these operations take on wild species in the ecosystem. Buffalo field campaign provided training, room, board, winter clothing, and equipment to each of these volunteers outfitting them for some of the most extreme weather conditions in the country. Time spent in the presence of wild bison - both in their natural grace and through the chaos of hazing , capture, and slaughter operations - inspires buffalo field campaign volunteers and cooridonators to visualize, organize, and actualize a wide range of initiatives aimed at bringing permanent protection to this last wild bison population. A goal of the frontlines bison defense project is to permanently protect bison migration routes and the bison's right to access them. The organization convey information and images gained through field patrols, public meetings, and research to citizens across the country and around the globe.
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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 63
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 60
- Sustainability: 63
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 59.7%; rating input score 60
- Program expense ratio: 77%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 24.4%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.82; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 17.4%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 59.7% of revenue deployed · 77% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $235K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $27K · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.