Green Infrastructure Center Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 208741849
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2012
- Location
- Charlottesville, VA, USA
- Phone
- 4342570050
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,295,757
- Expenses
- $2,170,624
- Assets
- $737,251
- Liabilities
- $375,309
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
7 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Karen Firehock (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Karen Firehock (Executive Director): $100,313 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Assist communities in developing strategies for protecting and conserving their ecological and cultural assets through environmentally-sensitive decisions, lifestyles and planning. We map natural resources and help communities create conservation and tree planting plans.
What it reported doing in 2025
The GIC conducts research, economic analysis, land use planning and asset assessment and mapping, to provide the suite of tools needed by communities to protect and restore their green assets, The GIC builds habitat models to find and rank natural resources such as wildlife habitat, water resources, agricultural soils, wildlife corridors as well as human needs and uses such as nature-based recreation. The GIC also works in urban areas to map tree canopy, calculate urban tree benefits, and create strategies for restoring urban natural areas. The GIC primarily works with local and state agencies, community and neighborhood groups, and land trusts, conservation groups and schools. The GIC also conducts training workshops and publishes books, brochures, webinars and web pages to educate the public about the importance of assessing and protecting our natural resources to ensure healthy, vibrant communities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 98% 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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 64
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 32
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 69.9%; rating input score 70
- Program expense ratio: 73.9%; rating input score 74
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 14th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 5.5%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.34; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.51; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 69.9% of revenue deployed · 73.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $100K · 7 people listed
- Consistency: 42 of 43 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 7 filing years from 2013 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.