DonkeyLand

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452735098
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2015, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Riverside, CA, USA
Phone
9512340393
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,086,578
Expenses
$563,632
Assets
$12,567,903
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Amber-LeVonne Cheatham (President & Dir)
  • Chad Cheatham (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Amber-LeVonne Cheatham (President & Dir)
  • Michelle Guido (Treasurer/Dir)
  • Chad Cheatham (Vice President)

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

To save lives of donkeys and wild burros and educate the public about the plight of these animals, both in captivity and in the wild.

What it reported doing in 2024

Provided Wild Burro emergency medical expenses and after care. Our wild burro emergency rescues involve safely capturing, providing first-aid on-site treatment, transporting to the hospital, rehabilitating, castrating the males rescued, then releasing the burros back to the wild with their family, as we never want to take away their freedom. Ultimately that is our goal, but in some cases the ideal situation does not always happen and the burro becomes a permanent resident of DonkeyLand. We are a forever home for those who can't be released back to the wild because of a traumatic car accident, injury, illness or a special needs situation. They come to us traumatized, desperate and betrayed. With us they find love, safety, compassion, dignity, trust, hope and a new beginning.Orphan emergency rescues. We are dedicated and committed to providing emergency assistance to serve the wild burro orphans in dire situations at a moment's notice. It involves 24 hours a day around-the-clock bottle feeding and care for the most critical first six months of their life. For the animals who are healthy enough, we will find them safe, loving, permanent adoptive homes where they can become a cherished member of a family, but because our goal is a forever home - title does not transfer, meaning with a guarantee that in the event the family can no longer care for the donkey or burro, they can safely be returned back to DonkeyLand.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 45
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 97
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 24.7%; rating input score 25
  • Program expense ratio: 92.9%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 81.7%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 22.3; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.3% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 19.7% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 32.3% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 24.7% of revenue deployed · 92.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $524K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 25/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.