Outdoor Buddies Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
742498946
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2011
Location
Fort Collins, CO, USA
Phone
7207737717
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fishing, Hunting

Reported finances

Revenue
$280,848
Expenses
$267,073
Assets
$486,650
Liabilities
$8,352

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LARRY SANFORD (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • TONY HODGES (BOARD OF DIRECTOR)
  • JAMES PIPER (BOARD OF DIRECTOR)
  • FREDERICK SOLHEIM (BOARD OF DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Outdoor Buddies mission is to provide opportunities, through a volunteer organization, for those who have been deprived of enjoying outdoor experiences. The focus is on those who are mobility-disabled, military veterans, at-risk youth, and youth groups. Outdoor experiences include hunting, fishing, boating, rafting, camping, and education in the use of the outdoors for recreational activities. The opportunities are available to all, with no cost (other than personal expenses) and no discrimination due to race, color, gender, creed, religion, sex, or family status.

What it reported doing in 2025

Warriors On Cataract Canyon sponsors 4-day whitewater trips on the Colorado River through Canyonlands National Park from Moab to Lake Powell for our disabled veterans. Last summer we were able to provide four trips, each taking about 25 Wounded Warriors, their caregivers and families on each trip. We accommodate veterans with very significant levels of disability, such as PTSD, traumatic brain injury, orthopedic injuries, multiple amputations, burns, depression, substance abuse, and those with wheel chairs and service dogs. Each year over 8,000 veterans succumb to their hopelessness and depression and die by their own hand. This is more than have ben lost in 18 years of combat in the conflicts in the Middle East. This doesn't have to be. We find that this whitewater trip is a watershed for many of the Wounded Warrior participants, giving them new hope and perspective, and forming a support group of other combat veterans, thereby putting them on a path to recovery and reintegration.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% 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

SUPPORTED - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.7%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 81.1%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.11 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • 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: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.9%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.82; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.7% of revenue deployed · 81.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $217K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 42 of 43 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.