Friends of Animals Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
136018549
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Darien, CT, USA
Phone
2036561522
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,362,326
Expenses
$4,526,422
Assets
$17,094,879
Liabilities
$1,211,651

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PRISCILLA FERAL (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • PRISCILLA FERAL (PRESIDENT): $164,761 total reported compensation
  • ROBERT ORABONA (DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS): $155,943 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER BEST (WILDLIFE LAW PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $130,182 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Friends of animals works to cultivate a respectful view of non-human animals, free-living and domestic. Our goal is to free animals from cruelty and institutionalized exploitation.

What it reported doing in 2025

Public information and animal protection- through animal advocacy programs and interventions, foa promotes endangered species and other wildlife protection. Campaigns against wild horse round-ups and the wild bird trade; the horse-drawn carriage trade; the fur trade; hunting and predator control, including state-sponsored wolf control programs in Alaska and the northern rockies. Sponsors chimpanzee conservation projects in west africa, and primate sanctuary in Texas. Vegan advocacy projects explain that a plant-based diet is the best response to an ecological crisis via educational materials, speeches and ads. Published four quarterly issues of actionline magazine; other educational materials produced for members, the public and media.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 81% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.9%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 93.5%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $46.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Pass
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 89.1%; rating input score 89; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15.6%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.78; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.9%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.9% of revenue deployed · 93.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $165K · 12 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 17 filing years from 2009 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.