Ecology Action Center
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 371157100
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2010
- Location
- Normal, IL, USA
- Phone
- 3094543169
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Alliance/Advocacy Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $846,546
- Expenses
- $709,134
- Assets
- $791,883
- Liabilities
- $1,366
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
23 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JAY IVERS (PRESIDENT)
- HANNAH EISNER (VICE PRESIDENT)
- MIKE O'GRADY (PAST-PRESIDENT)
- MICHAEL BROWN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- MICHAEL BROWN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $111,724 total reported compensation
- LARISSA ARMSTRONG (ASSISTANT DIRECTOR): $33,636 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Environmental awareness and education
What it reported doing in 2024
Bncare: in the late summer of 2024, the ecology action center started collecting data for the bloomington-normal community air research and education (bncare) program, funded by a u.s. Epa grant and in partnership with Illinois state university. Through fy 2025, three stationary monitors were placed throughout the bloomington-normal area, with a focus on environmental justice areas. These monitors measure air pollutants including particulate matter, ozone, and volatile organic compounds, with the goal of finding out if the region's ozone levels are remaining within epa compliance. Along with data collection, the bncare program also focuses on public outreach. A website, bncare.org, was launched with the program, and outreach has been done throughout the community, reaching 321 people. This includes outreach at schools, farmers markets, museums, and fairs. Social media campaigns have been done during local air quality events, such as the late spring dust storm and early june wildfire smoke. The program was also presented at professional showcases, such as the isu history symposium. The program collected and shared 10 months of air quality data in fiscal year 2025.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 62% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 69
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 58
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 64.4%; rating input score 64
- Program expense ratio: 75.9%; rating input score 76
- Fundraising efficiency: $35.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 72; 72nd 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: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- 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: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 16.2%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.12; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 20.5%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 64.4% of revenue deployed · 75.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $538K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $112K · 23 people listed
- Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.