Friends of Willow River-Kinnickinnic State Parks
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 391667467
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018
- Location
- Hudson, WI, USA
- Phone
- 7153869340
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $409,022
- Expenses
- $229,932
- Assets
- $1,189,459
- Liabilities
- $2,103
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Rita Thofern (President)
- Walt Zuliani (Vice President)
People named in this filing
- David Thofern (Treasurer)
- Mary Jo Filipiak (Director)
- Rita Thofern (President)
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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Promote environmental education and stewardship of the natural resources at Willow River and Kinnickinnic State Parks.
What it reported doing in 2024
In 2024, with a volunteer board of nine, and with one and three quarters full-time naturalists employed, the Friends 1. Offered 190 programs to 7,400 participants of all ages and backgrounds through school field trip programs, naturalist classes, weekend events, and drop-in programs focused on geology, human history, the natural environment, recreation, and other educational and seasonal topics. Including 25 school and youth field trips with 1,284 field trip attendees 8 adult outings including assisted living and dementia care groups. 2. Sought and received grant funding, donations, and volunteer support that resulted in the development of 10 additional miles of mountain biking trails at Willow River and Kinnickinnic State Parks. 3. Kept Willow River Nature Center staffed and open to the public daily from noon-4 pm for roughly 342 days in 2024, logging 14,442 visitors. 4. Proudly funded, supported, and assisted in stewardship projects and trail (See Schedule O)
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 67% 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.
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 liabilities are high compared with assets.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 75
- Sustainability: 80
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 61.2%; rating input score 61
- Program expense ratio: 90.8%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $711.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 77.8%; rating input score 78; 20th 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: 43.8%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.17; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 24.6% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 19.3% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 61.2% of revenue deployed · 90.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $209K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.