Lions Tigers and Bears

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
330938499
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Alpine, CA, USA
Phone
6196598078
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Wildlife Sanctuary, Refuge

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,435,303
Expenses
$4,489,074
Assets
$12,050,622
Liabilities
$610,429

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARK BRINK (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BOBBI BRINK (VICE-PRESIDE): $112,663 total reported compensation
  • MARK BRINK (PRESIDENT): $96,513 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Lions tigers & bears is dedicated to providing a safe haven to abused & abandoned exotic animals & to inspiring an educational forum to end the exotic animal trade. As a state & federally licensed 501(c)3 non-profit, we are a no kill, no breed sanctuary that allows the animals in our care to live out their lives with dignity in a caring and safe environment.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education about care of rescued wild animals

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

STRONG - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.8%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 86%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.4%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.68; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.7%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.9% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.6% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.2% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.8% of revenue deployed · 86% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $113K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.