National Tropical Botanical Garden

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
526057064
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Kalaheo, HI, USA
Phone
(808) 332-7324
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Botanical Gardens, Arboreta and Botanical Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$29,167,793
Expenses
$14,417,543
Assets
$98,830,821
Liabilities
$1,778,468

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

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JANET L MAYFIELD (CEO & DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JANET L MAYFIELD (CEO & DIRECTOR): $192,846 total reported compensation
  • TAMARA A ROLLINS (CFO): $136,074 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 perpetuate tropical plants, ecosystems, and cultural heritage.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education: ntbg believes that education is key for preservation of tropical plants & ecosystems. Tours are offered through its gardens to educate the general public about the need to preserve tropical forests rich with native biodiversity and to protect our ecosystems & resources that we rely on for our own well-being. In 2024, our botanical gardens had 110,379 visitors from around the world. Other educational activities include formal and informal lectures, botanical illustrator courses, internships & workshops for college professors, high school teachers & environmental journalists. Science staff regularly provide articles in scientific publications. The science staff have collaborated on & published several books on tropical flora. The loy mccandless marks botanical library currently holds over 20,000 volumes, 3,000 original botanical artworks & prints, 6,000 photographs & 16,000 color slides. The library comprises one of the finest collections of tropical botanical & horticultural reference collections in the pacific basin. The kampong, in coconut grove, fl is home to the former residence of dr. David fairchild, an american botanist who was responsible for the introduction of more than 200,000 exotic plants & crops in the u.s.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 66% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 89
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 46.3%; rating input score 46
  • Program expense ratio: 83.1%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $26.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 50.6%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.85; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.3%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 4 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 46.3% of revenue deployed · 83.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $12M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $193K · 27 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $130K reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 46/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.