Protect Our Rivers

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
862101337
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025
Location
Lakewood, CO, USA
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Reported finances

Revenue
$161,269
Expenses
$144,631
Assets
$86,194

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Sarah Nelson (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Sarah Nelson (Executive Director)
  • Scott Coe (Chairman of the Board)
  • Jess Cuneo Samms (Secretary)

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

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

Overview

Mission

The purpose of Protect Our Rivers is to protect and restore through active conservation education and access.

What it reported doing in 2025

We increase the attendance and impact of our river cleanup events. We hosted 32 events with over 2800 volunteers and removed 88,000 pounds of trash from rivers and streams. We extended our efforts to three states and conducted a 2nd elementary school cleanup with 100 5th-grade students. Planning for three programs in 2026 we sustained impact during the Executive Directors maternity leave.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.4%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 76.3%; rating input score 76

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.3%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.6; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 50%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 24.1% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 24.6% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 34.4% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.4% of revenue deployed · 76.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $110K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 6 of 6 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.