McBride Conservation Fund Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
742487218
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
5122197746
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$98,409
Expenses
$81,856
Assets
$996,080
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Kent Brenneman (Trustee)
  • Kim Ray (Trustee)
  • Spence Collins (Trustee)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Foundation was established primarily to raise tax-deductible contributions to give something back to the outdoors community and to help "pass on the heritage" of the outdoors to upcoming generations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 56
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.9%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 85%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0.09 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th 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: 75%; rating input score 75; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.8%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.17; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.9% of revenue deployed · 85% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $70K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.