Grizzly Discovery Center Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 810527102
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
- Location
- West Yellowstone, MT, USA
- Phone
- 4066467001
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Wildlife Sanctuary, Refuge
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,360,552
- Expenses
- $4,186,439
- Assets
- $18,749,620
- Liabilities
- $5,624,558
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- TIM MANLEY (PRESIDENT)
- CHRISTINE PAIGE (VICE PRESIDENT)
- JOHN HEINE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- JOHN HEINE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $189,713 total reported compensation
- MICHAEL WHITE (STAFF VETERINARIAN): $142,910 total reported compensation
- KASSANDRA HUMBARD (CFO): $140,570 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Through live animal exhibits, museum displays, staff presentations and programming, the center achieves its mission of providing visitors an opportunity to view, learn about and ultimately appreciate the grizzly bears and gray wolves.
What it reported doing in 2025
The center is home to four magnificent species: grizzly bears, grey wolves, birds of prey and river otters. Not only can you watch these fascinating animals interact in their outdoor habitat, but you can also have the opportunity to learn about their history, controversy, social structure, and antics. The center had 205,929 visitors in 2025.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 72% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 55
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 64.5%; rating input score 64
- Program expense ratio: 58.3%; rating input score 58
- Fundraising efficiency: $0.89 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 4%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.48; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11.3%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 64.5% of revenue deployed · 58.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $190K · 9 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $1.2M reported
- Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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 — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 58/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 2/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.