Fund for Wild Nature

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
870386717
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4152442347
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$476,452
Expenses
$212,872
Assets
$939,374
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Marnie Gaede (President)

People named in this filing

  • Marnie Gaede (President)
  • David R Parks (Treasurer)
  • Annica Kreuter (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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Fund for Wild Nature's mission is to raise funds and provide small grants to promote the conservation and protection of the Earth's wildlands, roadless and wilderness areas, wildlife and natural ecosystems.

What it reported doing in 2024

The only program service of the Fund for Wild Nature is its grants program which in 2024 provided 34 grants to organizations working to conserve and protect the Earth's wildlands, roadless and wilderness areas, wildlife and natural ecosystems. The accomplishments of our grantees cover a variety of areas within our field of interest, but the organizations have relatively low budgets and obtain impressive results from small grants.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 99% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. 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: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 72
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 84
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 45.7%; rating input score 46
  • Program expense ratio: 96.3%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $103.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 81.8%; rating input score 82; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 52.1%; rating input score 52; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 55.3%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.41; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -7.3% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 48.2% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.4% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 45.7% of revenue deployed · 96.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $205K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 38 of 40 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • 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 46/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 52/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.