Institute for Global Environmental Strategies Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
541720742
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Arlington, VA, USA
Phone
7033120823
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Social Science N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,289,172
Expenses
$1,324,080
Assets
$199,097
Liabilities
$148,896

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Nancy Colleton (President)
  • Bill Klanke (CEO & Publisher)
  • Theresa Schwerin (Vice President, Education)

Highest reported compensation

  • Nancy Colleton (President): $192,709 total reported compensation
  • Theresa Schwerin (Vice President, Education): $148,819 total reported compensation
  • Russanne Low (Senior Scientist): $130,434 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

IGES' mission is to be a trusted leader in Earth and space science education, communication and outreach, and to foster national and international cooperation in global Earth observations. IGES hopes its efforts will improve the understanding of, and response to, natural and human-induced changes in the Earth's systems by seeking multidisciplinary approaches to complex and critical social, environmental and economic challenges.IGES seeks to develop and implement activities and programs for students, teachers, and the broader Earth and space science education community, as well as to work with leaders and decision-makers from government, the private sector, and academia around the world in order to further Earth observations research.

What it reported doing in 2024

NASA CAN: This is a cooperative agreement from NASA's Science Mission Directorate supporting the NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (NESEC). IGES is the lead and is partnered with three NASA Centers: Goddard, Langley, and JPL. Awarded in February 2016 for up to 10 years, $8.6M is earmarked for IGES. A few of the many contributions IGES will be making to this effort are: 1) Overall project management and coordination; 2) Developing educationally relevant Earth STEM themes; 3) Act as a key liason to other CAN project teams; 4) Support training and online instruction for GLOBE initiatives; and 5) Lead the planning and implementation of the annual International Science and Engineering competition and awards.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 99% 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 most voting board members are independent. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.9%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 63.2%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th 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: 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 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.7%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.75; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 44.4%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.8% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.9% of revenue deployed · 63.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $836K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $193K · 7 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $124K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.
  • 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 — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.