Sierra Stem

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
992794285
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
June Lake, CA, USA
Phone
7604289512
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Student Services, Organizations of Students

Reported finances

Revenue
$120,511
Expenses
$87,305
Assets
$34,125
Liabilities
$919

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NEAL FOX (PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CALLAN GODSHALK (EDUCATION DIRECTOR): $21,812 total reported compensation
  • CLAIRE LANDOWSKI (OPERATIONS DIRECTOR): $21,812 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sierra stem is dedicated to collaborating closely with educators and schools to foster the development of school-aged individuals who embody critical thinking, resilience, and empathy.organization aims to cultivate a broad community of scientists and citizens who are equipped to navigate challenges with intelligence, adaptability, and compassion through its focus on outdoor education, stem enrichment, and experiential learning.

What it reported doing in 2024

Local school programs: experiential stem education programs offered in partnership with local schools offered 3 programs in partnership with local schools during 2024. In total, 122 students served. Program 1 served 7 students during 1, 1-day session; program 2 served 110 students during 2 sessions in 1 day; program 3 served 5 students during 2 sessions across 2 days.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 74% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 54
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 60
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 52.8%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 72.8%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 9th 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: 62.5%; rating input score 62; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 27.6%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.39; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 50%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 52.8% of revenue deployed · 72.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 8 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $64K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $22K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.