Natureconnect Central Oregon

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
472678893
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019
Location
Bend, OR, USA
Phone
5413624324
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Parks and Playgrounds

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$527,521
Expenses
$583,644
Assets
$363,958
Liabilities
$24,129

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CID CHRISTINA (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JONES GWEN (PAST PRESIDENT)
  • WILLIAMS LAUREN (PRESIDENT)
  • CHIPKO KATIE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHIPKO KATIE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $60,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to unite our community to inspire lifelong connections to nature for each child. We are a network of 30+ partners who connect children and families to nature through learning, exploration, and play. We focus strongly on equity and inclusion, working to connect underrepresented communities to impactful experiences in nature.

What it reported doing in 2024

1. Vamonos outside: provided outdoor programs to 525 latinx participants over 134 days of programs. Programs included afterschool and summer programs, teen mountain biking and skiing, and family gatherings. 2. Field trips and school services: our network provided outdoor programs to 13,084 students over 53,106 student days. Funded bus costs for 101 field trips. Naturehoods program reached 1,579 students, 100% of who were from rural or title i schools. 3. Green jobs: provided paid internships to 18 high school youth in the green sector, who worked a total of 1,803 hours. 4. Family programs: provided 15 free family nature programs, primarily in rural communities, reaching 375 participants; plus natureconnect fest in bend, reaching 2,000 participants. 5. Network support: provided 15 convenings for networking and training, focused on advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.

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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.3%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 89.7%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $27.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -10.6%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.62; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.3%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.8% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.7% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 29.7% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.3% of revenue deployed · 89.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $524K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.