Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
611518154
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
La Plata, MD, USA
Phone
3018306450
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Rehabilitative Medical Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,807,782
Expenses
$5,231,953
Assets
$1,357,900
Liabilities
$219,245

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN LANGFORD (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHN LANGFORD (CEO): $199,423 total reported compensation
  • MIKE CATHER (VP DEVELOPMENT (FROM 1/6/25)): $133,210 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTOPHER WOODWARD (VP OPERATIONS): $126,780 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Project healing waters fly fishing inc mission is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active duty military and disabled veterans through fly fishing and associated activities including education and outings.

What it reported doing in 2025

National program support: project healing waters provides centralized national support to sustain and strengthen its network of regional programs, ensuring consistent quality of care and operational capability across the country. This includes recruiting, training, and supporting volunteer program leads and regional coordinators; developing curriculum and instructional standards for fly tying, rod building, and casting instruction; and maintaining relationships with va and dod medical facility partners nationwide. Administrative infrastructure that allows local volunteers to focus on direct participant engagement rather than program logistics. This backbone of support enabled the organization to sustain 160 regional programs in 45 states during 2025. Project healing waters provides once-in-a-lifetime fly fishing destination experiences for active-duty military and veteran participants at premier fishing locations across the country, including through dedicated program sites such as freedom ranch for heroes in wise river, Montana and oak heart lodge in newaygo, Michigan, as well as trips to national parks and other storied waters nationwide. These multi-day trips extend the healing and camaraderie of the regional program into an immersive outdoor setting, offering participants - including many who face mobility, financial, or logistical barriers to travel - an opportunity to fish waters they otherwise could not access. Trips are provided free of charge to participants, with transportation, lodging, and guide services covered by the organization and its partners.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63.3%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 69.5%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.9%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.26; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.8%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9.3% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.5% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -11.3% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63.3% of revenue deployed · 69.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $199K · 14 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $588K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.