Fibershed

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
453055196
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2014
Location
San Geronimo, CA, USA
Phone
4157170619
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Quality, Protection, and Beautification N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,650,343
Expenses
$2,193,988
Assets
$2,139,296
Liabilities
$336,251

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Rebecca Burgess (Executive Director & Board President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Rebecca Burgess (Executive Director & Board President): $78,540 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Fibershed's mission is to provide experiential education that both generates awareness, and teaches the necessary skills within our community to build and sustain a thriving bioregional textile culture that functions hand-in-hand with principles of ecological balance, local economies, and regional organic agriculture.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, Fibershed strengthened and expanded its regional fiber systems through robust programming, education, and producer support. Eight new Fibersheds were launched this year, expanding the national and international network of place-based textile communities. To foster ongoing collaboration, we hosted 12 virtual monthly meetups attended by approximately 144 Affiliate Network members, and distributed 15 targeted email newsletters providing news, opportunities, and technical resources for Affiliates. Fibershed also facilitated four Working Groups-Policy, Education, New Economic Models, and Bast Fiber-offering structured opportunities for Affiliates and partners to develop shared strategies and deepen their expertise. Our Producer Program saw continued growth, enrolling 33 new producers in 2024, 23 of whom are considered socially disadvantaged. Across California, 4,214 acres were enrolled in the program, supporting climate-beneficial land stewardship and material production. Our educational initiatives reached a wide audience: we trained 55 teachers and welcomed more than 200 visitors to the Learning Center. We also hosted 21 partner organizations at the Learning Center for tours, trainings, and collaborative use of the space. In 2024, Fibershed offered 11 hands-on workshops serving 129 students and provided 11 scholarships to increase accessibility and community participation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 78
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.1%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 89.2%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $28.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 68.1%; rating input score 68; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.2%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.98; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.6%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.4% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.7% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.1% of revenue deployed · 89.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $79K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.