Friends of the Rouge
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 382672879
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Plymouth, MI, USA
- Phone
- 7349274900
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,864,084
- Expenses
- $1,863,117
- Assets
- $3,229,807
- Liabilities
- $244,825
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SAMRA'A LUQMAN (VICE-PRESIDENT)
- JESSICA EILAND ANDERS (PRESIDENT)
- MARIE MCCORMICK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (ENDED 7/10/24))
- ASHLEY FLINTOFF (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- ASHLEY FLINTOFF (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $57,447 total reported compensation
- MARIE MCCORMICK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (ENDED 7/10/24)): $56,742 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To restore, protect, and enhance the rouge river watershed through stewardship, education, and collaboration.
What it reported doing in 2024
1. The rouge education project (rep) is a 37-year-old, nationally recognized model water quality monitoring program that engages thousands of students each year in hands-on science education and place-based learning while providing meaningful service learning opportunities for students to get further involved with stewarding their hometown river.2. Watershed monitoring engages hundreds of volunteers in immersive science education while they observe, listen, and study benthic macroinvertebrates (aquatic insects), frogs and toads, fish populations, and habitat throughout the watershed. Local residents become citizen scientists and collect critical data that friends of the rouge provides to a variety of organizations and agencies about the health of the river over time.3. River restoration work across the watershed includes riparian corridor and stormwater management training for residents and municipal employees as well as hands-on implementation and green infrastructure installation such as rain gardens.4. The expanding trails program aims to develop a 29-mile water trail along the lower and main stems of the rouge river along with paralleled greenway (bike/walk trails) access with shared trailheads. Universally accessible kayak launches create equitable access especially in historically underserved, marginalized communities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 85% 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 60
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 64.1%; rating input score 64
- Program expense ratio: 62%; rating input score 62
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: 0.1%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.73; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.1%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 64.1% of revenue deployed · 62% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $57K · 17 people listed
- Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 36/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.