Chippewa Nature Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
381859315
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Midland, MI, USA
Phone
9896310830
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,951,591
Expenses
$3,529,802
Assets
$44,471,204
Liabilities
$127,687

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JORDAN SUMMERS (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DENNIS PILASKE (EXECUTIVE DI): $143,020 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 chippewa nature center is a non-profit organization whose mission is to facilitate the enjoyment and understanding of our natural, historical and archaeological resources as relevant to the saginaw valley, to promote environmental awareness and to foster responsible stewardship.

What it reported doing in 2025

Department of programs: in 2025, the chippewa nature center continued to serve our mission to connect all people with nature through educational, recreational and cultural experiences. Our programming team connected with the public through our annual festivals, staff-led outdoor experiences, and indoor educational visits. We offered nature preschool and nature day camp to serve the children of our community. We partnered with schools through educational field trips at our location and presented our programs in their classrooms.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

STRONG - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 89
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.7%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 78.9%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 67.8%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.6; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.1%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.7% of revenue deployed · 78.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $143K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.