Native American Rights Fund

Legal name: Native American Rights Fund Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
840611876
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2023
Location
Boulder, CO, US
Phone
(303)447-8760
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Minority Rights

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$24,661,367
Expenses
$21,341,008
Assets
$92,169,287
Liabilities
$3,143,392

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN ECHOHAWK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHN ECHOHAWK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $344,810 total reported compensation
  • MELODY MCCOY (ATTORNEY): $321,500 total reported compensation
  • MATTHEW CAMPBELL (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $311,800 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Native American Rights Fund holds governments accountable. We fight to protect Native American rights, resources, and lifeways through litigation, legal advocacy, and legal expertise.

What it reported doing in 2024

National Indian Law Library In 1972, NARF founded the National Indian Law Library (NILL) to serve the research needs of NARF attorneys. NILL's resources are also available to the public however, and hundreds of research requests are received weekly. The library houses a unique and valuable collection of federal Indian and tribal law materials and provides specialized legal research assistance. It also provides online bulletins to keep advocates aware of the latest legal developments and most recent news in Indian law. Researchers around the world have access to the resources of the National Indian Law Library through online access to our library catalog (https://nill.softlinkliberty.net/liberty). The catalog contains information on over 18,000 titles held in the NILL collection. Copies of most resources can be delivered to researchers in a timely way and many catalog records provide links to free resources that are available on the internet. NILL's collection includes catalog records for approximately 7,000 articles, 4,500 books, and 1400 tribal law resources. Many of these items are freely available online and are easily accessed via a link in the catalog record. NILL is the only library serving the public with extensive expertise and resources relating to Indian law, providing services that other libraries are unable to provide. One critical resource provided during FY2025 was in the many public presentations and training NILL Staff provided to the public, librarians, judges, court employees, law students, and other researchers on how to conduct Federal Indian Law and Tribal Law research.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.8%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 66%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.5%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.32; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.5%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 65.8% of revenue deployed · 66% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $14.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $345K · 24 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.5M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.