Friends of Rouge Park

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
320011147
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Detroit, MI, USA
Phone
3137993677
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Reported finances

Revenue
$630,205
Expenses
$430,603
Assets
$423,756
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lindsay Pielack (Executive Director)
  • Sally Petrella (President)
  • Arthur Edge (Vice-President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lindsay Pielack (Executive Director): $109,910 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To protect, restore, and promote a natural, environmentally healthy, and culturally vibrant rouge park that engages the community for the benefit of all

What it reported doing in 2025

Community engagement programs- friends of rouge park facilitates nature programming year round, summer programming (including walking club, yoga and youth sports programs) as well as several cultural or fitness focused special events ( winterfest, buffalo soldiers & blues and mountain bike ramble). In 2025, we also hosted a special centennial celebration three-day festival.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 69% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
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 program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 58
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 48.7%; rating input score 49
  • Program expense ratio: 71.3%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th 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: 54.5%; rating input score 55; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 31.7%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.98; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 107.3% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 66.3% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 61.7% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 48.7% of revenue deployed · 71.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $307K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $110K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 49/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 55/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.