River Fields Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 616032501
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Louisville, KY, USA
- Phone
- 5025833060
- Rating
- 74
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Land Resources Conservation
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $450,320
- Expenses
- $458,945
- Assets
- $4,465,117
- Liabilities
- $118,881
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LOGAN ORMEROD (PRESIDENT, BOARD OF TRUSTEES)
- MEME SWEETS RUNYON (PRESIDENT AND CEO (TO 05/24))
- KRISTIN FAUREST (PRESIDENT AND CEO (FROM 05/24))
Highest reported compensation
- KRISTIN FAUREST (PRESIDENT AND CEO (FROM 05/24)): $71,368 total reported compensation
- MEME SWEETS RUNYON (PRESIDENT AND CEO (TO 05/24)): $29,094 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
River fields protects, preserves, and enhances the natural and cultural resources, including agricultural and scenic resources, on both sides of the Ohio river between westport and west point, Kentucky, for the benefit of the public.we believe the Ohio river and its natural and cultural wonders belong to everyone. We serve as a trusted and impartial voice for sustainable, thoughtful planning that respects and nurtures our beautiful river and its lands. We use a combination of advocacy, conservation, and education to achieve our mission and vision, including: working with landowners to permanently protect 2,300 acres of forests, meadows, shorelines, and farms in the Ohio river watershed in jefferson, shelby, and oldham countiescaring for 65 acres of beautiful and fragile river landscapes, for all to enjoyspeaking out against harmful, short-sighted developmentsharing hands-on nature education with a wide audience
What it reported doing in 2024
Youth engagement: we work with a partner organization to provide free nature-based programming on our lands to teens in foster care, hoping to cultivate the next generation of environmental stewards. Partnerships: we work with the Ohio river way and the Ohio river basin alliance to advocate for large-scale ecological, recreational, cultural, and economic investment and restoration of the entire stretch of the Ohio river.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 93% 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 65
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 70.9%; rating input score 71
- Program expense ratio: 65.8%; rating input score 66
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.17 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- 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: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -1.9%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.73; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 21.9%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -3.6% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -2.3% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 70.9% of revenue deployed · 65.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $302K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $71K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 35/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.