Ecology Education Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 010522241
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2020
- Location
- Saco, ME, USA
- Phone
- 2072839951
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,337,968
- Expenses
- $3,446,263
- Assets
- $14,026,488
- Liabilities
- $12,755,847
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Cathy Goodwin (Vice President)
- Mary Martin (President)
- Andrew Dumsch (President/CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- Andrew Dumsch (President/CEO): $125,813 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Ecology School inspires stewardship of and connection to the natural world through experiential learning in ecology, conservation, farming, and sustainability.
What it reported doing in 2024
The Ecology School studies the relationships that all living organisms have with one another and with our shared environment. We explore ways that we can build communities that sustain the ecosystems that in turn sustain us, and we approach the science of ecology through wide-eyed, hands-on exploration of the ecosystems outside our door. We make nature's lessons memorable with play, humor, and games, and make those lessons applicable with real life models of sustainable farming and living. The School promotes such stewardship through the maintenance of immersive educational programs, summer schools, and student camps, through collaborations with teachers, and through support of River Bend Farm, a sustainable property that features trails, dormitories, seminar spaces, clean energy, and organic farming.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 89
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 33
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 76.2%; rating input score 76
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.94 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 94.3%; rating input score 94; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 64.3%; rating input score 64; 10th 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: -47.4%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.07; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.91; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.7%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 24.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 76.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $126K · 15 people listed
- Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
- 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 12/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.