Ketcha Outdoors

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010211784
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2022
Location
Scarborough, ME, USA
Phone
2078838977
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Camp Fire

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,937,251
Expenses
$2,445,493
Assets
$2,987,189
Liabilities
$257,688

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Karen Stanley (President)
  • Peter Cain (Vice President)
  • Laragh Kavanagh (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Laragh Kavanagh (Executive Director): $109,894 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide equitable access to outdoor experiences and gear, promoting well-being, sustainability and resilient communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

After School Care: After school students participate in outdoor activities with a different theme each day, for example: Arts and Crafts, Farm and Garden, Sports, Wilderness Exploration, STEM activities and free choice Friday. We also incorporate social emotional learning topics into our daily programming.Farm & Forest Preschool: Unique outdoor programming is offered in our nature-based preschool for kids ages 3-5. We practice place-based teaching, rooted in the Reggio Emilia approach, throughout our 107 acres of forest, fields, farm, and waterways. Our students are active outdoors year-round and in all types of weather, playing, learning, hiking and spending time at our farm and garden.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 65% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 68.1%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.49 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th 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: 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 16.7%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.22; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64% of revenue deployed · 68.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $110K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 4/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 57/100.