Runners for Public Lands
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 833209615
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2021
- Location
- Ventura, CA, USA
- Phone
- 2024123105
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Natural Resources Conservation and Protection
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $281,589
- Expenses
- $204,509
- Assets
- $194,727
- Liabilities
- $167
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Vic Thasiah (Board President)
- Tia Bodington (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Kathleen Baker (Exective Director): $82,107 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We empower runners to protect public lands, engage in climate action, and expand access to nature for all. Runners are motivated to be involved in their local communities to protect cherished landscapes and expand access to nature. Together we can make on positive impact in our community by volunteering locally and supporting national outdoor recreation and environmental advocacy efforts. RPL approaches this through community service, education, and civic engagement. As the largest outdoor recreational group in the country, 60 million strong, runners can make a difference. RPL applies its passion for human endurance, beautiful landscapes, and coming together to inspire and support runners for environmental advocacy, conservation work, and promoting environmental corporate responsibility and international cooperation.
What it reported doing in 2025
Trail Work Series: Through our Trail Work Series, Runners for Public Lands partners with local trail maintenance organizations, clubs, and races to educate and activate runners through recurring trail stewardship events. All of our events are approved, permitted, and insured by the local land managing agency and led by trained trail work leaders. RPL Ambassadors and our partners are at each event to share news and upcoming ways to get involved in our organizations.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 90% 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 total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Accountability: 74
- Sustainability: 55
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 57%; rating input score 57
- Program expense ratio: 78.4%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: $50.34 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 27.4%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.95; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 40.1%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 37.8% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 39.2% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 57% of revenue deployed · 78.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $160K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $82K · 9 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $57K reported
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.