Nature and Culture International
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 330773524
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Del Mar, CA, USA
- Phone
- 8582590374
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Pollution Abatement and Control Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $8,847,336
- Expenses
- $8,253,741
- Assets
- $20,506,091
- Liabilities
- $5,188,041
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MATTHEW CLARK (President & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- MATTHEW CLARK (President & CEO): $200,530 total reported compensation
- KERYN LEGER (CFO): $157,688 total reported compensation
- KARINA COPEN (CHIEF DEV. OFF): $154,199 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Nature and culture international conserves biologically diverse landscapes in latin america, in concert with local cultures, for the well-being of the planet.
What it reported doing in 2025
Latin American Conservation Programs in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru: NCI conserves lands and ecosystems in Latin America through the creation of natural reserves and programs to conserve rainforests and other threatened ecosystems. We do this in a grass-roots fashion, hiring local staff who work with regional and local governments, Indigenous Nationalities and Pueblos, and local communities to create conservation programs and designate new protected areas. We also build local capacity to manage and sustain the protected areas we help create. While emphasizing the conservation of forests and ecosystems, NCI's programs also promote sustainable community development.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 90% 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 available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 67
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 48
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.1%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 86.1%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Limited
- Conducts field audits: Limited
- May suspend future funding: Limited
- Requires financial reports: Pass
- Conducts site visits: Limited
- Requires grant agreements: Limited
- May require repayment: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th 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: 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: 6.7%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.48; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.25; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.8%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 81.1% of revenue deployed · 86.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $7.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $201K · 18 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 37 of 37 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.