Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391468447
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Odanah, WI, USA
Phone
7156826619
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fishing, Hunting

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,853,897
Expenses
$12,153,308
Assets
$22,945,481
Liabilities
$15,459,272

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

Leadership & pay

36 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ANN P MCCAMMON-SOLTIS (DIRECTOR OF): $103,782 total reported compensation
  • JAMES G THANNUM (DIRECTOR OF): $100,344 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Fish, wildlife, and treaty protection

What it reported doing in 2024

Functional category: law enforcement / tribal courts activities include: (1) affirming & implementing treaty rights, (2) enforcement, and (3) fisheries. (1) affirming & implementing treaty rights: protect ceded territory rights reserved by the tribes for themselves in treaties signed in 1836, 1837, 1842, and 1854. (2) enforcement: protect the fish and game within the ceded territories through both education and patrol. Glifwc wardens routinely patrol and monitor treaty harvest activities in the ceded territories of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, checking for infractions of tribal codes governing treaty harvest seasons. Violations are cited into tribal courts. (3) fisheries: ensure treaty reserved fishing rights are preserved by assisting member tribes in fishery assessments and regulation of gichigame (lake superior) treaty commercial fisheries and other inland fisheries.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 90% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 36
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.9%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 73.6%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: 9.1%; rating input score 9; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.5%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.89; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.67; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.7%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.9% of revenue deployed · 73.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $8.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $104K · 36 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 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: 2 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.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 9/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.