Sassafras River Association Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841664388
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2017
Forms available
Form 990 2017
Location
Easton, MD, USA
Phone
4102751400
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$903,812
Expenses
$881,090
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SUSAN WARRINER (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • SUSAN WARRINER (PRESIDENT)
  • CINDY HAYES (VICE PRESIDE)
  • JOHN BURKE (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 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The sassafras river association is dedicated to promoting and monitoring clean water, a balance among recreation, wildlife and economic activity, and an educated community that takes action to protect and restore the health of the watershed.

What it reported doing in 2017

Sra activities are focused on the protection and restoration of the sassafras river. Weekly tidal testing and monthly testing of non-tidal sites completed the annual river report card, unveiled to the public with a presentation about ospreys. Restoration projects included a stream restoration on swantown creek, cascading treatment wetlands on a large vegetable-production farm, and direct disc manure injection on eastern shore farms. Our riverkeeper conducted local stream cleanups, invasive water chestnut eradication, sav plantings, and kayak paddles. The organization explored and approved a merger with other eastern shore waterkeeper groups to form shorerivers - a regional advocacy voice for the sassafras, chester, choptank, and miles & wye rivers - effective 1/2018

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 69% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 91% 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.
  • 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. The required major-donor schedule is missing or incomplete and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 95
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.6%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 97.4%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $98.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.5%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.2% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.2% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -13.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.6% of revenue deployed · 97.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $858K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $283K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2010 to 2017
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.