Friends of the Fredericksburg Nature Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
742958190
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Fredericksburg, TX, USA
Phone
2817968151
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Reported finances

Revenue
$577,612
Expenses
$22,713
Assets
$904,856
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LONNIE E CHILDS (PRESIDENT)
  • BILLY GUIN (VICE-PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • LONNIE E CHILDS (PRESIDENT)
  • BILLY GUIN (VICE-PRESIDENT)
  • GRACIE WAGGENER (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

Provide educational and quality of life opportunities for members of the community and visitors to enhance, protect, and interpret the natural ecosystem of the Texas hill country.

What it reported doing in 2025

Established the fredericksburg nature center. The organization successfully developed the fredericksburg nature center within lady bird johnson municipal park, creating a destination that preserves native Texas hill country habitats while providing the public with opportunities for environmental education, hiking, birdwatching, and nature appreciation. Currently advancing plans for a permanent nature center building to serve as an educational and visitor hub. The facility is intended to provide classrooms, interpretive exhibits, meeting space, and expanded programming, allowing the organization to significantly increase its impact on environmental education and community engagement for future generations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 37
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 95
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 4.5%; rating input score 5
  • Program expense ratio: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3,415.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 7th 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: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 96.1%; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 39.84; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 71.4% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 70% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 4.5% of revenue deployed · 70% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $16K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 18 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.