Earth Fire Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
992532950
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
7193106041
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fire Prevention

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$23,343,035
Expenses
$12,483,533
Assets
$11,779,875
Liabilities
$920,373

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRIAN COLLINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRIAN COLLINS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $104,615 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Observe all of our planet's fires comprehensively. Serve end users worldwide with timely and trustworthy information. Conserve earth's ecosystems, communities, and economies by informing mitigation, response, and resilience strategies.

What it reported doing in 2024

Firesat is a first-of-its-kind satellite constellation focused specifically on wildfire, its conditions and behavior, and its ecological and societal effects. Based on hundreds of interviews with end users, the firesat design meets their expressed needs. Firesat will be unmatched by any combination of existing or planned satellite systems in terms of resolution and latency and will generate an unprecedented dataset poised to transform humanity's relationship with wildfire.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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 total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 73
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 53%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 99.1%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3,037.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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; 66th 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: 46.5%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.94; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.8%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 53% of revenue deployed · 99.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $12.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $105K · 4 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $513K reported
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.