Nature Friends
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 995127286
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- Las Cruces, NM, USA
- Phone
- 5189373710
- Rating
- 58
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Youth Development Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $35,827
- Expenses
- $19,601
- Assets
- $16,226
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
2 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Hibah Ayaz (Director): $1,166 total reported compensation
- Felicia Miller (Community Relations Specialist): $454 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
At Nature Friends, our mission is to inspire a lifelong connection to the natural world through outdoor education, creativity, and environmental stewardship. Through exploration and hands-on learning, we hope your child gains curiosity, confidence, and a deeper appreciation for the natural systems that make our region so unique.
What it reported doing in 2024
Conservation & Community Projects: Youth participants engage in conservation initiatives that benefit local ecosystems and wildlife. In 2025, children planted native agaves at a local park, worked at a farm to donate all products, created recycled art projects, made natural cat toys for the cat shelter, and conducted monthly cleanups at an adopted park. These projects teach sustainability and empower youth to take part in real-world environmental action.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 85% 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.
The verdict
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 59
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 18
- Sustainability: 57
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 42.5%; rating input score 42
- Program expense ratio: 77.7%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $55.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 83; 83rd 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: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 45.3%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.83; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.3%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 42.5% of revenue deployed · 77.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $15K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1K · 2 people listed
- Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- 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 42/100.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.