Pacific Rim Conservation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
262905658
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Honolulu, HI, USA
Phone
8087419479
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,327,783
Expenses
$1,484,381
Assets
$727,267
Liabilities
$161,725

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LINDSAY YOUNG (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • ERIC VANDERWERF (DIRECTOR OF SCIENCE, SUCEESOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ERIC VANDERWERF (DIRECTOR OF SCIENCE, SUCEESOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $129,875 total reported compensation
  • LINDSAY YOUNG (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $66,000 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 maintain and restore native species and ecosystems through habitat protection and management, threat control, public education, and scientific research to develop and improve conservation methods. We provide biological research and management services to government agencies, other non-profit organizations, landowners, and a variety of other groups throughout the hawaiian islands and the pacific region.

What it reported doing in 2024

We work together with local communities, government agencies, and other conservation organizations to achieve our goals; we are a solidly 'boots on the ground organization. We do this by creating 'islands' within islands where predators have either been removed and excluded through fencing or are controlled on a long term basis. We then work to restore the habitat in these areas, and in some cases, bring bird species back that are no longer found there through translocation and social attraction. Throughout all of our work, we actively conduct research to understand avian biology, and the ecosystem changes and benefits to inform future conservation actions. To date, we have published more than 142 peer-reviewed papers in high-profile scientific journals and one full length book, and have had our work featured in media outlets such as the New York times, national geographic and the bbc.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 40
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.2%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 84.2%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 33.3%; rating input score 33; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -11.8%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.49; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.2%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.2% of revenue deployed · 84.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 3 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $130K · 6 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $369K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 33/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.