Rainforest Partnership

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
261618125
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2007
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
5124200101
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$311,938
Expenses
$255,917
Assets
$37,997
Liabilities
$453,594

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Niyanta Spelman (Chief Executive Officer and Board Member)

People named in this filing

  • Niyanta Spelman (Chief Executive Officer and Board Member)
  • Sumit Jamuar (Board Chair)
  • Hazel Barbour (Board Treasurer)

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

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

Overview

Mission

Rainforest Partnership's mission is to protect and regenerate tropical rainforests by working with rainforest communities to develop sustainable livelihoods that empower and respect both people and nature.

What it reported doing in 2024

[BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION] In 2024, Rainforest Partnership continued strengthening protection of critical, threatened, and rare biodiversity in the Peruvian Tropical Andes and Ecuadorian Amazon by conducting groundbreaking biodiversity research and strengthening local capacities to lead conservation initiatives on the ground. Biodiversity Expedition Highlight: A 26-day expedition in late November 2024 documented 23 species of frogs, snakes, and lizards, in an area of threatened forest ecosystem in northern Peru including 5 species potentially new to science. Scientific Contributions: Rainforest Partnership Lead Herpetologist, Pablo Venegas, led another prolific year with the team: Publishing 3 scientific journal articles describing 2 new frog species and 2 new lizard species. Authored a groundbreaking 4th article documenting Peru's first-ever record of a critically endangered frog species discovered during one of our 2023 expeditions. Submitted 5 additional journal articles in 2024 for publication. Rainforest Partnership herpetologist Pablo Venegas held talks at the iconic New York Hall of Science each day during Climate Week, in September 2024, speaking about exciting discoveries, expeditions and contributions to science, importance of amphibians in the ecosystem and the importance of studying and protecting tropical rainforests. In the Ecuadorian Amazon, we trained dozens of National Park Rangers in butterfly monitoring and biodiversity research and produced environmental education content to strengthen conservation and environmental awareness of the importance of Ecuador's National Parks and of butterflies who are early alarm systems for the effects of deforestation and climate change on rainforests and wildlife. We led 16 butterfly monitoring events, training park rangers through 6-days of hands-on workshops in the field at two sites in Yasuni National Park (Anangu and Tambococha) and in Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve. The park rangers developed their skills in butterfly research, identification, and monitoring. See Schedule O for additional information.

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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.4%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $86.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 84; 84th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.15; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 11.94; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -14.9% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.4% of revenue deployed · 91.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $235K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.