Cathance River Education Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010538224
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2015–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2017, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Brunswick, ME, USA
Phone
2077297694
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$108,057
Expenses
$373,622
Assets
$0

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ellen Bennett (President)
  • John Shattuck (Vice-President)
  • CAROLINE ELIOT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • Jan Smith (Director)
  • Sue Reed (Director)
  • Ron Strand (Director)

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 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

CREA works to deepen ecological awareness through nature-based learning by students, educators, and the public; to promote environmental stewardship; and to foster wise use of the Cathance River Nature Preserve.

What it reported doing in 2023

School Programs: CREA provides nature-based science programs for public school students to advance science learning, engage learners, and promote care for the natural world. In the first six months of 2023, CREA educators: worked with teachers to develop hands-on science units which will reach over 2,000 students in grades K-5; provided 2 professional development sessions for 70 elementary teachers to facilitate teaching using new, inquiry-based science methods; taught place-based science lessons to 30 classes at our Ecology Center, reaching over 550 elementary students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 3
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.9%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 25.7%; rating input score 26

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: -245.8%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.9%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 88.9% of revenue deployed · 25.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $96K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 5 of 6 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2015 to 2023
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part III transfer expenses within program total did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.