Safari West Wildlife Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911837240
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Santa Rosa, CA, USA
Phone
7075792551
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Wildlife Preservation, Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$715,368
Expenses
$269,968
Assets
$669,587
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • S LARSON (President)
  • L CHAPMAN (Vice President)
  • L HILL (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • S LARSON (President)
  • L CHAPMAN (Vice President)
  • W BINDER (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. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Inspiring wildlife advocacy through education, research and conservancy

What it reported doing in 2024

Junior Keepers - This program is open to qualified young people between the ages of 12 and 16 years old. Its an opportunity for young people to learn about careers in animal, conservation, and science fields. In addition to working directly with the animals, Junior Keepers are involved with keeper duties such as enrichment, learning curriculum related to biology and fire science, and working on public speaking skills when presenting at special conservation day events like Earth Day, World Oceans Day, and fundraisers.In 2024, 20 teens participated in special projects such as Amateur radio animal tracking, field and tracking, collaboration project with Conservation Fusion in Madagascar, and California State Government recycling outreach

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 28
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 86
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 16.3%; rating input score 16
  • Program expense ratio: 43.1%; rating input score 43
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 62.3%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.48; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 16.3% of revenue deployed · 43.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $116K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 16/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.