Forest Park Zoological Society Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 046145635
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Springfield, MA, USA
- Phone
- 4137332251
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Zoo, Zoological Society
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,264,747
- Expenses
- $1,292,329
- Assets
- $637,019
- Liabilities
- $145,597
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Sarah Tsitso (Executive Director)
- Rebecca Connolly (President)
- Nathan Bazinet (Past President)
- Daniel Burack (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Sarah Tsitso (Executive Director): $102,504 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To promote public awareness and appreciation for indigenous and exotic animals and to provide educational programming for all ages that encourages understanding and respect for the natural environment.
What it reported doing in 2024
To provide a better understanding of, and appreciation for, the natural world through education, conservation, and rehabilitation.
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.
- 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 29
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 94.1%; rating input score 94
- Program expense ratio: 87.4%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th 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: Limited
- 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- 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: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -2.2%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.49; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.9%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 94.1% of revenue deployed · 87.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $103K · 14 people listed
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.