Natural Curiosity Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
871718758
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Hillsboro, NM, USA
Phone
5753421323
Rating
58
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,102,047
Expenses
$689,041
Assets
$2,104,503
Liabilities
$533

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Megan Pitman Perry (CEO)
  • Travis William Perry (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Megan Pitman Perry (CEO): $29,050 total reported compensation
  • Tricia Steele Kazemi (Wilderness Stewardship Director): $20,952 total reported compensation
  • Travis William Perry (President): $9,773 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 advance conservation through research, experiential outdoor education, and wilderness stewardship. We plan to accomplish this by engaging people with nature and giving them the knowledge, skills, and confidence to do conservation work and recreate in nature.

What it reported doing in 2025

Outdoor Education: Natural Curiosity provided field-based outdoor education to youth and adults with four distinct programs in 2025. Supported by a New Mexico Outdoor Equity Fund grant, we hosted a free two-week summer day camp at our Animas Campus for 26 local youth in Sierra County, divided into two age groups (10-12 and 13-15), and supported by two student camp interns aged 16-18 who were hired to assist with programming. Campers received meals and all necessary outdoor gear while learning hiking, orienteering, wildlife identification, and outdoor safety, including a field trip to Ladder Ranch to learn about regional conservation projects and instruction on ecological challenges facing the area, including wildfire risk and long-term drought. In partnership with the Western Institute of Lifelong Learning (WILL) at Western New Mexico University, 10 adult participants completed a weekend field course on mountain lion ecology and management at the Hermosa Field Station, including lectures, tracking, and a visit to an active puma kill site. We also hosted Outdoorsy Women Learning Survival Skills (OWLS), a week-long Introduction to Backpacking program led by wilderness educator Jessie Krebs for 6 women, based at our Hermosa Field Station with backcountry camping on adjacent Gila National Forest land and instruction in navigation, fire building, camp craft, and wilderness safety skills. In May 2025, 12 students completed Wilderness MayX, a three-week May-mester program focused on wilderness recreation, work, and stewardship skills in the American West, also based at our Hermosa Field Station. In Fall 2025, 10 undergraduate university students completed the Wild Semester, a full-semester study away program in partnership with Furman University based at our Hermosa Field Station. Students completed 4 biology courses - Field Zoology, Conservation Biology, Field Ecology, and African Biodiversity and Conservation - while gaining hands-on experience in wilderness skills, horse and mule packing, radio telemetry, remote camera operation, and animal chemical immobilization through our active Mountain Lion research program. The semester concluded with a three-week international field experience in South Africa. All students were certified in Wilderness First Aid and USFS Crosscut Saw use.

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 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

MIXED - Program spending has grown recently and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 51
  • Accountability: 56
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 46.4%; rating input score 46
  • Program expense ratio: 73.1%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $24.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 77.8%; rating input score 78; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 37.5%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.05; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.7%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 44.9% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 31% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 46.4% of revenue deployed · 73.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 9 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $504K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $29K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 46/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 41/100.