Coos Watershed Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
931146207
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Coos Bay, OR, USA
Phone
5418885922
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,003,732
Expenses
$3,071,036
Assets
$1,124,941
Liabilities
$453,337

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HALEY LUTZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • BRADFORD MCKEOWN (PRESIDENT)
  • JOE METZLER (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • HALEY LUTZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $131,022 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To support environmental integrity and economic stability within the coos watershed by increasing community capacity to develop, test, promote, and implement management practices in the interests of watershed health.

What it reported doing in 2025

Community engagement: we believe that lasting watershed health depends on strong community connections. Through volunteer events, nursery work days, festivals, workshops, service projects, and hands-on career mentoring and internship programs, we engage people of all ages in meaningful, place-based experiences. These programs foster environmental stewardship, connect individuals to local resources, and emphasize the shared responsibility we all have in caring for our watershed.our youth engagement efforts include partnerships with all three local high schools, where students learn practical restoration skills while improving the ecological health of their school campuses. Coos watershed association's summer youth program gives students the opportunity to work on meaningful, community-based projects while building job skills and providing paid work experience. We offer a unique summer of environmental restoration, job readiness, and outdoor adventure. Students gain hands-on experience, contribute to real conservation efforts, and grow their connection to the environment and their community. This is all part of our efforts to support natural resource career development so that there will be enthusiastic, knowledgeable professionals to maintain and progress the health of the coos watershed in the future. We do this through teaching young people job skills in our youth engagement programs, hosting interns in our monitoring program, and supporting career growth and mentorship through our staffing structure. Throughout the year, we take part in local festivals and farmers' markets to share watershed knowledge, connect with community members, and build momentum for collective action. We also host the annual mayfly festival, a family-friendly event that brings the watershed to life through games, educational activities, and interactive learning experiences. In memory of teddy villers (2004-2015), an avid young steward who tragically passed away while working on a salmon habitat project, the villers family and the coos watershed association offer the teddy villers natural resources scholarship. Awarded annually to a local high school, home-school, or community college student pursuing a career in natural resources, the scholarship honors teddy's legacy and inspires future generations to follow in his footsteps, making a lasting impact on the environment.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 79% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.5%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 79.8%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.2%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.37; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.5% of revenue deployed · 79.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $131K · 17 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $488K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.