Mara Elephant Project USA Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 453996413
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2011
- Location
- Carmel, IN, USA
- Phone
- 3173442863
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Public Foundations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,795,383
- Expenses
- $5,811,676
- Assets
- $5,276,964
- Liabilities
- $1,537,343
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ERICA DILLOW (PRESIDENT & TREASURER)
Highest reported compensation
- CLAIRE BOLLES (EXEC DIRECTOR): $80,730 total reported compensation
- MARC GOSS (SECRETARY, MEMBER): $30,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To work to conserve elephants and the landscapes they live in, including their biodiversity, ecological function, and peaceful human-wildlife co-existence through support of programs and activities to foster i) applied conservation, ii) research, iii) technological development, iv) education, v) community development, vi) and public awareness within elephant range states and abroad.
What it reported doing in 2025
The organization supports programs that work to increase protection for endangered wildlife in africa. Key among those is elephants, a keystone species that acts as a barometer for the health of an ecosystem. Contributing to programs that engage in action to address the short term threats to wildlife and wild spaces and pair it with research that discovers long-term solutions that involve engagement from indigenous communities is key to the organization's program support approach.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 93% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 77
- Transparency & Controls: 85
- Accountability: 72
- Sustainability: 51
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76.5%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 89.4%; rating input score 89
- Fundraising efficiency: $14.18 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Pass
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Pass
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Pass
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 11th 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: 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: 14.5%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.91; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 35.1% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 76.5% of revenue deployed · 89.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $81K · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- 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.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 4 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 48/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.