Friends of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
341904821
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2014
Location
Oak Harbor, OH, USA
Phone
4198980014
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Wildlife Preservation, Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$517,139
Expenses
$486,130
Assets
$1,369,154
Liabilities
$39,140

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TAJINDER SINGH (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • AIMEE ARENT (EXECUTIVE DI): $82,035 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 ottawa national wildlife refuge supports the conservation mission of Ohio's only national wildlife refuge complex by acquiring land, engaging the community, and enhancing public access.

What it reported doing in 2025

Youth programs: it is a priority of fonwr to connect youth with environmental education and career development opportunities on the refuge. -- internships: fonwr offers internships for college students or recent graduates pursuing degrees in conservation fields. Interns assist with visitor services, biology, law enforcement, and maintenance programs. This year fonwr provided 10 internships for a total of 4,018 hours of work and funded training opportunities for interns. --career pathways: together with the united states fish and wildlife service, fonwr continued a cooperative agreement for the career pathways program to allow interns opportunity for advancement and selected two technician positions. These technicians contributed 3,120 hours of work for community engagement, intern recruitment, and invasive species projects. --environmental education: fonwr sponsored field trip transportation grants to local schools, bringing 40 students to the refuge for environmental education programs. Fonwr sponsored the turkey hunting workshop and youth waterfowl hunting workshop which reached over 50 youth conservationists. Additionally, fonwr awarded two 2,500 scholarships to high school seniors who are pursuing conservation careers.

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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 52
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.82; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.9%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.3% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.2% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $486K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $82K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.