Friends of the Island Fox

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
845114320
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Camarillo, CA, USA
Phone
8052284123
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$91,996
Expenses
$54,546
Assets
$122,486
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL WATLING (PRESIDENT & DIRECTOR)
  • MEGAN SARRAIL (VICE PRESIDENT & DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • KERI DEARBORN (TREASURER & DIRECTOR)
  • MICHAEL WATLING (PRESIDENT & DIRECTOR)
  • MEGAN SARRAIL (VICE PRESIDENT & DIRECTOR)

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

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

Overview

Mission

Island fox conservation, research, and public education

What it reported doing in 2025

Education outreach: volunteers provided programs on rare island foxes and channel island ecosystems via 10 school presentations (462 students & teachers across 3 counties); 11 adult programs (646 people, including on-line programs on fox conservation and research); and engaged 2,202 people at public events (35% los angeles co., 27% santa barbara co., 26% ventura co., 12% san diego co.)

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filed totals do not add up and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.9%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 40.7%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.25; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.4% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.9% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 4 filed program accomplishments · $57K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 9 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 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 — Transparency & Controls: Part III program expenses within total did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.