Children's Enviromental Literacy Fdn

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
364540146
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Valhalla, NY, USA
Phone
9144496868
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Management & Technical Assistance

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$786,612
Expenses
$805,249
Assets
$319,634
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Tara Stafford Ocansey (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Tara Stafford Ocansey (Executive Director): $128,009 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The organization's mission is to establish sustainability as an integral part of every child's PreK-12 learning experience. By integrating sustainability across subjects and grades, we can equip students with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will help lead to a sustainable future for everyone. CELF programs use sustainability as an integrating context for teaching and learning, decision-making, civic engagement, community partnerships and campus practices. The lens of sustainability transforms curriculum, school operations, physical surroundings and school-community activities and fosters the cultivation of engaged citizens.

What it reported doing in 2025

Professional development and TrainingThe concepts of sustainability are universal, but every district and school starts from a different place in implementing sustainability education. CELF customized professional development (PD) helps schools infuse curriculum and school culture with education for a sustainable future. PD services include: gap analyses of curriculum; on-site Education for Sustainability training and resources (specific to grade level and school or district needs and interests); and review of facilities green infrastructure improvements to help infuse projects into curriculum. Through half-day workshops to multi-year engagements, we provide a framework for integrating sustainability concepts into curricula, community, and culture, helping teachers connect students to place-based learning opportunities in the community, create whole-school action plans, and activate student civic engagement.Green Careers Speaker SeriesAs student interest in sustainability grows, CELF helps students see how their interests and community concerns can be channeled into potential career pathways by connecting them with professionals working in a wide array of sustainability focused careers. CELF connects classrooms directly with industry professionals across sectors to explore opportunities for applying sustainability and systems thinking in their career planning and aspiration.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 89
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.8%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 77%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 7th 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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.4%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.4; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.9%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.8% of revenue deployed · 77% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $620K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $128K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.