Rainforest Foundation US

Legal name: Rainforest Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951622945
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
212-431-9098
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Forest Conservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,797,512
Expenses
$9,819,859
Assets
$6,783,767
Liabilities
$1,419,126

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SUZANNE PELLETIER (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTINE HALVORSON (PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $266,081 total reported compensation
  • SUZANNE PELLETIER (PRESIDENT): $229,178 total reported compensation
  • JULIE HUDSON (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $180,844 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Rainforest Foundation US supports Indigenous peoples in protecting their rainforest territories and rights.

What it reported doing in 2024

Land rightsmounting evidence shows what we've known since our founding--that rainforests protected by indigenous peoples are healthier and store more carbon than even national parks. But without legal recognition of their lands and the protection of their human rights, indigenous peoples face significant challenges in safeguarding these vital, carbon-storing forests. We support the protection of indigenous peoples' land rights through a variety of means, including providing legal assistance for new and expanded land claims, helping to delineate territorial boundaries, reinforcing existing land rights, and providing communities with the information they need to make informed decisions about topics like carbon markets.in 2024:- rfus facilitated securing legal titles for 20 communities and 75,000 acres of their ancestral lands in peru.-rfus supported advancement of land tenure security for 300,000 acres of lands in panama- rfus supported the global alliance of territorial communities (gatc) in advancing its engagement with the forest climate leaders partnership (fclp), a coalition of governments formed at cop26 in 2021 to drive political commitments to halt deforestation in tropical forest countries-rfus supported the xingu indigenous territory association (atix) in implementing their fpic protocols to protect against threats stemming from highway and railway projects.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 72% for direct work, and 28% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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 the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 80.3%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Pass
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -25.9%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.69; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.9%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.6% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.4% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.5% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 5 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 80.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $7.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $266K · 14 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.