Howell Nature Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474324628
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2020
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2020
Location
Howell, MI, US
Phone
517-546-0249
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,481,466
Expenses
$1,655,220
Assets
$1,965,913
Liabilities
$2,100,494

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RHETTE B ROWE (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHN CARLSON (EXECUTIVE DI): $109,572 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Through mutual love and respect, we teach people to be faithful caretakers of one another and the natural world around us

What it reported doing in 2020

Provide outdoor activities for use by church groups, schools, businesses, and individuals. Hnc main mission is the teaching of people to be faithful caretakers of one another and the world around us. Wildlife rehabilitation: we strive to provide quality care with the hopes of rehabilitation and release back to the wild. We are licensed through the usfws, dnr and usda. This vital community service is only possible through the compassion of those citizens who bring us wildlife in need and the generosity of our community which provides financial support. Education: experiential-based lessons are more vivid and memorable than learning from a book or classroom. We specialize in facilitating exploratory learning in the outdoors, engaging students in the wonder of the howell nature center, and supplementing school curriculum through hands-on learning experiences. Camp: we connect children with nature while enjoying classic camp traditions and educational activities in our summer day camp, overnight and excursion camps. Our goal with all camp wonder programs is to provide a fun, adventurous, and enriching summer camp experience to teach children to be faithful caretakers of one another and the world around us.

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

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: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 89.5%; rating input score 89
  • Program expense ratio: 79.7%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.11 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.7%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.19; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.07; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9.2% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -24.5% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 89.5% of revenue deployed · 79.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $110K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2017 to 2020
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.