Friends of Birch State Park Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
650999861
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Ft Lauderdale, FL, USA
Phone
9545660660
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Parks and Playgrounds

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$314,074
Expenses
$319,257
Assets
$358,034
Liabilities
$15,879

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ASHLEY SAWYER SMITH (PRESIDENT)
  • JIM ELLIS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • CHRISTINE MADSEN (PAST PRESIDENT)
  • MICHELLE SCHMITZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • ASHLEY SAWYER SMITH (PRESIDENT)
  • JIM ELLIS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • NANCY THIES (SECRETARY)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Friends of birch state park, inc. Is a citizen support organization (cso) formed to help preserve, concerve, enhance, and promote hugh taylor birch state park through community support.

What it reported doing in 2025

Park support and promotion: funded various repairs and maintenance for the support of park functions for birch state park. Also provided supplies and veterinary care for the park's animal collection, supplies for park staff and volunteers, and marketing and promotion of the park.

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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 42
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 80
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 46.1%; rating input score 46
  • Program expense ratio: 44.8%; rating input score 45
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 27th 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: 96.7%; rating input score 97; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -1.7%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.12; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 46.1% of revenue deployed · 44.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 29 of 30 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $143K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 30 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 31/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.