Earth League International

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462395314
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2014, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Phone
3104064081
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal-Related N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$829,521
Expenses
$834,988
Assets
$1,189,405
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANDREA CROSTA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • ANDREA CROSTA (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • JOHN STEWART (CHAIR)
  • GINA BROGI (TREASURER)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Earth league international is the only NGO in the world with the mission of investigating environmental crime convergence-the intersection of environmental/wildlife crime with other serious transnational crimes such as money laundering, human trafficking, corruption, and drug trafficking.

What it reported doing in 2025

Enviromental crime - researching and combating environmental crime convergence sits at the heart of earth league international's mission. By combining investigative field operations with financial forensics, open-source intelligence, and strategic partnerships across government and the private sector, we expose organized environmental crime and trafficking networks.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 75
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.5%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 90.9%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: -0.7%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.42; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 23% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.5% of revenue deployed · 90.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $759K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $112K reported
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.