Organization of Biological Field Stations Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
711047817
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2017
Location
Williamsburg, MA, USA
Phone
4133877983
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural History, Natural Science Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$129,658
Expenses
$137,486
Assets
$981,756
Liabilities
$50,000

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lara Roketenetz (Past President (ex officio))
  • Rhonda Struminger (President)
  • Jessica Malisch (Vice President/Co-chair IDEA+ Committee)

Highest reported compensation

  • Sarah Oktay (Network Coordinator): $1,000 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 assist members in providing infrastructure for exemplary scientific research, innovative & effective learning & informed natural resource stewardship. To enhance the capacity of field stations through training & information sharing. To educate the public and decision makers about the critical role of field stations in scientific research and education. To enhance public support for funding field stations and the activities supported at field stations.

What it reported doing in 2025

One of the most important functions of the OBFS is providing networking capacity among about 130 field stations and 40 individual members throughout the world. The professional field station network is maintained with a website that contains a variety of information, such as a map with the locations of member field stations, examples of field station policies, and information on special events, funding opportunities, and jobs postings. A complete revision of the website was finished in 2024 and the OBFS hired a website administrator contractor ($10,495) to maintain the website and spent $3,572 on website maintenance. Annual meetings are a second way that OBFS maintains a professional network. In 2024 the OBFS annual meeting was held in November (to miss peak hurricane season) at The Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, Georgetown, South Carolina. Final expenses of the 2024 meeting were paid in early 2025 ($32,035). The 2025 annual meeting was held at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, Colorado ($8,312). Participants attended workshops on timely topics and heard a variety of speakers and met many other field station managers. Several member stations were recognized for their efforts to increase the involvement, engagement and sustainability of underrepresented groups in field science ($1,504). Travel assistance was given to a small number of Board members without institutional support ($2,875). Early and middle career travel awards were also given to two members to attend the annual meeting ($6,927). The OBFS continues to build connections with the communities where annual meetings are held by holding a local fundraising event in an effort to showcase the work of field stations to the general public ($2,677).

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 42% for direct work, and 58% for grants.

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 the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 94
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 94.7%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: $26.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 49.9%; rating input score 50; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -6%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.14; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.7%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 37.1% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 94.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $130K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grants require schedule f did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.