Friends of Buford Park and Mt Pisgah

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
931129647
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Eugene, OR, USA
Phone
5413448350
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Land Resources Conservation

Reported finances

Revenue
$932,915
Expenses
$863,323
Assets
$495,182
Liabilities
$172,139

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NATHANIEL ZANTZINGER (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • PHILIP BAYLES (VICE PRESIDE)
  • NATHANIEL ZANTZINGER (PRESIDENT)
  • ABI KRETSCHMAR (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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to nurture and restore our connection to nature. Our programs include: improving trails and enhancing compatible recreation; stewarding habitat and trails through volunteer service; advocacy for land restoration; and supporting our native plant nursery, which supplies key native plant materials for habitat restoration within the organization's service area. The friends combine the best scientific knowledge, most advanced field techniques, and grassroots volunteer power to restore and maintain rare habitats, and build and maintain trails to the highest standards to accommodate half a million hikers and equestrians who enjoy the greater mt. Pisgah area annually. We advocated for and participated in more than 1,700 acres of riverfront land acquisitions, (including the nature conservancy's 1,305-acre willamette confluence preserve bordering buford park) within the greater mt. Pisgah area. In 2015, we purchased the 62-acre "turtle flats" property at the confluence. We partner

What it reported doing in 2024

We design, raise funds for, implement and monitor habitat projects in the mt. Pisgah area either on lane county's howard buford recreation area (buford park) or on adjacent lands. In 2024, we continued implementation of the east trail 3 realignment and improvement project; implemented treatments to bolster fire resiliency within buford park; advanced restoration of prairie-savanna-woodland habitat within the ponderosa managment unit (110acres); continued efforts to restore and enhance habitat within coast fork floodplain properties owned by friends as well as conservation properties owned by partners; and assisted lane county with disaster recovery in response to a regional ice storm.

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

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: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.1%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 83.2%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd 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 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.5%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.57; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.1% of revenue deployed · 83.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $719K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.