Ecology in Classrooms and Outdoors

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
203710367
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5032721774
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$553,776
Expenses
$483,160
Assets
$1,636,101
Liabilities
$34,534

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NICK CONTE (PRESIDENT)
  • SARAH WOODS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARAH WOODS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $117,787 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Ecology in classrooms & outdoors (eco) connects kids to nature through exploration of the local ecology. Eco engages students in conservation education to create a deeper appreciation for the environment.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, ecology in classrooms & outdoors (eco) delivered comprehensive ecology and stem education programs to elementary, middle, and high school students through in-person eco lessons, aves compartidas dual-language programming, place-based units, and online curriculum. Eco educators reached 4,080 students at 15 schools across six school districts through hands-on ecological education, schoolyard experiences, and service-learning field trips. During eco programming, students from 136 classrooms spent over 9,000 hours learning about and engaging with nature.continued on schedule o. Our in-school programming brings ecology to life and provides experiential and multisensory lessons tailored to the unique needs of each community. Lessons are aligned with the next generation science standards, the Oregon environmental literacy plan, and steam teaching targets. Our online platform, teach.ecologyoutdoors.org, provides access to free lessons as well as our place-based units, worksheets, videos, and additional curriculum resources, expanding our reach to educators in both urban and rural communities.this past year, eco's 15 place-based unit curriculum kits underwent a comprehensive review and reformatting process to improve lesson quality, clarity, and accessibility. These updated units continue to integrate science concepts across core subjects and were distributed to partners across Oregon, equipping k-5 educators with the tools to engage students in hands-on science learning and strengthen connections to their local ecosystems. The aves compartidas program provides bilingual, culturally relevant education for spanish-immersion classrooms, engaging students in lessons on ecology and stewardship. Eco's secondary programming for middle and high school students focuses on service-learning and career exploration, building an understanding of environmental systems, renewable energy, and biodiversity through standards-aligned, solutions-focused lessons.eco's work is strengthened through partnerships with organizations and school districts across the region, working to expand access to hands-on, interactive, and outdoor learning experiences for students.

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 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 - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 70.4%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.88 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 2nd 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 12.8%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.39; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.4%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -33% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4.6% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70% of revenue deployed · 70.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $340K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $118K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.