Patagonia Area Resource Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
454416414
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Patagonia, AZ, USA
Phone
5204772308
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$251,958
Expenses
$127,334
Assets
$173,360
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANNA DARIAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • LAURIE CANTILLO THROUGH NOVEMBER 25 (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ANNA DARIAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $37,211 total reported compensation
  • JONI STELLAR (CO CHAIR AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR): $9,403 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Para works to protect the patagonia mountains and sonoita creek watershed from negative impacts of industrialized mining by: 1. Holding state and federal agencies accountable for environmental laws and regulations; 2. Collaborating with strategic partners to ensure any mining activities meet the highest science-backed standards and 3. Supporting the nature-based economy dependent upon the regions rich biodiversity and cultural heritage.

What it reported doing in 2025

PARA and allied conservation groups have officially commented on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement DEIS issued by the US Forest Service for the South32 Hermosa critical minerals project in the Patagonia Mountains. The comment period which closed in June 2025 drew numerous objections asserting that the DEIS fails to adequately assess the projects environmental health cultural and biodiversity impacts especially concerning water resources wildlife habitat and cumulative effects from dewatering and infrastructure development. PARA has urged the Forest Service to enhance and revise the federal environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act NEPA before the anticipated final decision in early 2026.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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 - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 34.2%; rating input score 34
  • Program expense ratio: 67.6%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 49.5%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.36; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 36.6%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -41.4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 34.2% of revenue deployed · 67.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $86K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $37K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 34/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.