Padilla Bay Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911401169
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021
Location
Mount Vernon, WA, USA
Phone
3607573234
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$180,950
Expenses
$179,954
Assets
$437,799
Liabilities
$27,982

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Gail Smith (Vice President)
  • Leah Rice (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mary Mae Hardt (Administrative Officer): $48,236 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Organization's mission is to provide support to enhance, implement and sustain the programs and projects of the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, including educational programs, scientific research, interpretive programs and capital development projects. The Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve preserves the Padilla Bay Estuary through education and research.

What it reported doing in 2024

OSPI Teacher Workshop and Professional Development Grant: PBF manages the funds for a grant from the ClimeTime Initiative provided by Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Schools (OSPI). With this grant Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (PBNERR) staff provide professional development workshops for middle and high school teachers that focuses on environmental science, climate and data literacy, and ocean acidification. The workshops are based national Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and train teachers to develop and implement science based lessons that incorporate monitoring data from state and national real-time observation networks. The grant funds the workshop staff, curriculum materials, logistic and a small stipend for teachers once they implement their learnings into their classroom teaching. The Padilla Bay Reserve ClimeTime workshops have engaged hundreds of teachers since 2018, and indirectly served thousands of students through this work.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 61% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 70% for direct work, and 30% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 46
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 46.6%; rating input score 47
  • Program expense ratio: 37.5%; rating input score 38
  • Fundraising efficiency: $32.13 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 26th 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.6%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.43; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.8%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -33% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 46.6% of revenue deployed · 37.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $68K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $48K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 42 of 43 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 47/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 38/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.