Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
271078350
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2028383471
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fishing, Hunting

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,515,400
Expenses
$1,600,710
Assets
$405,393
Liabilities
$183,598

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Chuck Sykes (Secretary): $118,973 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 facilitate the promotion and growth of hunting and the shooting sports and the education of the public on the contributions that hunters and shooters make towards wildlife conservation.

What it reported doing in 2025

National Hunting and Shooting Sports Action Plan: Due to the efforts of the Council and its partners, the National R3 Plan is now a guiding concept on R3 within the conservation commuity. Today more than ever there is a clear and intense interest in enhancing participation in hunting and shooting sports at a national level. This interest is evident at the state level too, as many states are beginning to develop robust and expanded partnerships which span industry, NGOS, and other state entities. The development of state R3 strategies is showing great promise and the spirit of cooperation. Membership Services The Council offers many services to its state fish and wildlife agency members. The Council is engaged in the promotion and implementation of the National Hunting & Shooting Sports action plan; the growth of the National R3 community; the expansion of the Councils communication efforts and brand; the continuation of partnerships created by Council staff.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 73% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 80
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.6%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 90.5%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 19th 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5.6%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.25; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.45; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.4%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -8% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.6% of revenue deployed · 90.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $119K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.