Mazamas

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
930408077
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5032272345
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,405,909
Expenses
$1,052,728
Assets
$3,370,813
Liabilities
$226,313

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GREG SCOTT (President)
  • DAVID URBANIAK (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • REBEKAH PHILLIIPS (Executive Dir.): $105,360 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Mazamas promotes moutaineering and wilderness exploration. The organization also collects and disseminates authoritative and scientific information concerning mountains and wilderness, and encourages the preservation of the natural world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Activities & events: mazamas offers activities including hiking, climbing, backpacking, and local street rambles led by volunteer leaders. Participation is open to the public and subject to the physical fitness required for each activity. Participants are not charged a fee for activities, except for climbs in the mt. Hood national forest. In a typical year, approximately 1,500 climbers participate in our climbing program, 2,000 hikers participate in our hiking and street rambles program, and a few hundred participate in special events. Mazama outings are activities that are five days or longer. Outings vary in scope and number from year to year, depending on volunteer leadership. Most outings involve hiking, climbing, backpacking, trekking, or skiing, but some may include in-town excursions. Although most outings take place in the western united states, some travel to foreign destinations. Like other activities, they are open to the public; participants pay for their own travel and accommodations. Mazamas also awards grants that help fund climbing expeditions into high or remote mountain regions of the world. Mazamas offers informative and entertaining programs that are held at the mazama mountaineering center for the community throughout the year. The outdoor-oriented programs are free with a suggested donation, and range in nature from film screenings to research and advocacy updates to presentations by mission-aligned partner organizations.

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 99% 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. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 55.2%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 71.7%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 64.7%; rating input score 65; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25.1%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.2; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -7.4% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 55.2% of revenue deployed · 71.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $755K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $105K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.