Governors Island Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
454317911
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2013
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2124402223
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Parks and Playgrounds

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,601,002
Expenses
$3,915,285
Assets
$1,080,944
Liabilities
$968,967

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

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • PATRICIA DAVIS (EXECUTIVE DI): $238,068 total reported compensation
  • CORA PAIGE PAULBECK (DIR., INDIV.): $138,111 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Governors island alliance dba governors island foundation works to ensure the island's continued growth, vitality, and accessibility as a vibrant public resource and is the designated fundraising partner of the trust for governors island. Working together with the trust and the national park service, the governors island foundation stewards the island's green spaces and builds community through visitor experience, volunteering, membership, and diverse, free programming.

What it reported doing in 2024

Landscape stewardship program: the foundation fills a critical role in helping the trust for governors island (tgi) meet the rigorous demands of caring for the island's new and historic landscapes. Together the two organizations work to balance stewardship and sustainability. The foundation supplements tgi's limited budget for horticulture by funding gardeners, tools, plants and equipment, and by leveraging volunteers to ensure the island's green spaces remain in world-class condition. At the same time, the foundation works to document and communicate the performance of the new landscapes over time, serving as a model for sustainable and resilient park care. To meet these goals, in 2023, the foundation funded 1 arborist, 6 full-time gardeners, a full-time volunteer coordinator and 2 seasonal gardeners.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 69% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 84% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 14
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 85.6%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -8.7%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.28; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.9; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.6%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.7% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 85.6% of revenue deployed · 78.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $238K · 31 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.