Northwest Connections

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810512346
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2015
Forms available
Form 990 2015
Location
Condon, MT, USA
Phone
4067543137
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Management & Technical Assistance

Reported finances

Revenue
$395,825
Expenses
$464,755
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SCOTT TOMSON (Vice President)
  • JIM QUINN (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANDREA STEPHENS (EDUCATION): $52,867 total reported compensation
  • ADAM LIEBERG (EDUCATION): $45,067 total reported compensation
  • REBEKAH RAFFERTY (EDUCATION): $39,844 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Combines local knowledge & scientific methods in efforts that identify, conserve & restore habitat linkages in order to keep rural lands within the northern rockies whole & functioning for all species

What it reported doing in 2015

Workshops and courses on winter field studies, landscape & livelihood, alpine field studies, animal tracking, mountain lions, wildland volunteer corp and natural history adventures. Community programs on animal tracking, conservation projects and monitoring wildlife & habitat. Surveying & researching forest carnivores, bears, white bark pine, roads & trails and streams & wetlands.

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 97% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 6
  • Sustainability: 8
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.9%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 70.9%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -17.4%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 40.2%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -18.8% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.9% of revenue deployed · 70.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 8 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $330K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $53K · 13 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $25K reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2010 to 2015
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.