Gorgas Science Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
742284635
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2009
Location
Brownsville, TX, USA
Phone
9565418034
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$128,008
Expenses
$153,543
Assets
$971,754
Liabilities
$244,889

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAWRENCE V LOF (President)
  • GUILLERMO AGUILAR (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • PABLO QUINTANILLA (Secretary): $44,876 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide the highest quality educational opportunities to foster greater awareness and understanding of ecological issues, and to encourage conservation of critical cultural, historic and natural resources.

What it reported doing in 2024

The mission of the Foundation is to provide the highest quality educational opportunities, to foster greater awareness and understanding of ecological issues, and to encourage conservation of critical cultural, historical and natural resources. The Foundation supports the development and publication of education material and a wide variety of educational and conservation programs. The Foundation also provides a wide array of educational programs and resources for the local, as well as the international community through its educational outreach programs at public schools, production of nature films and publications. The Foundation operates the Sabal Palm Sanctuary in Brownsville, Texas under a lease agreement with the National Audubon Society. Within the Sanctuary, the Foundation owns and operates the Rabb Plantation House which serves as its headquarters and as the vistor's center for the Sanctuary.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 80
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 95.8%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -19.9%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.33; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 29.2%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -8% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -7.3% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 95.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $147K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $45K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.