Conservation History Association of Tx

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
742900386
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2012
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
5126593433
Rating
93
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Libraries

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$31,094
Expenses
$52,775
Assets
$169,631
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Janice Bezanson (Director)
  • Irene Pickhardt (Director)
  • Susan Petersen (Chairman)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Association is developing, distributing and archiving oral histories, atlas maps and descriptive essays, and wildlife illustrations to expand public appreciation and grasp of Texas environmental history.

What it reported doing in 2024

Texas Legacy Project: Research, archival work, oral history interviews, drafting, editing, and layout for histories of leading women in Texas conservation, for the biography of Andrew Sansom, a former executive director of the Texas Nature Conservancy and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, to publish with the Texas A&M University Press, and to maintenance an archive at www.texaslegacy.org, and in the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 95
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 86.5%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $220.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -69.7%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.21; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 86.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $46K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 14 of 15 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.