Buffalo Nation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 873505811
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- Giddings, TX, USA
- Rating
- 60
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Emergency Assistance
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $53,559
- Expenses
- $32,535
- Assets
- $150,146
- Liabilities
- $131,354
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Laura Cruise (Founder & President & Board Member)
- Loftus Cruise (Vice President & Board Member)
People named in this filing
- Laura Cruise (Founder & President & Board Member)
- Lisa Lindner (Secretary & Board Member)
- Loftus Cruise (Vice President & Board Member)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Buffalo Nation Building 979 equips and empowers teens and young adultsparticularly those experiencing housing instability or limited supportthrough mentoring life skills training and direct assistance. The organization provides educational support food and basic needs assistance and guidance toward employment college and trade pathways. During 2025 Buffalo Nation continued expanding its impact through community engagement individualized support and ongoing development of its youth facility.
What it reported doing in 2025
Buffalo Nation Building 979 provided mentoring life skills development and direct assistance to teens and young adults in the community including those experiencing housing instability. Services included one-on-one mentoring educational support including FAFSA and scholarship assistance food and basic needs assistance and guidance toward employment college and trade pathways. During 2025 the organization served approximately 50 individuals and continued expanding its outreach through community engagement efforts and development of its youth facility. The organization also provided emergency assistance for food and essential needs on an as-needed basis.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% 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 revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 32
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 71
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 25.6%; rating input score 26
- Program expense ratio: 42.1%; rating input score 42
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 39.3%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.61; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.87; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 25.6% of revenue deployed · 42.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $14K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 26/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 42/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.