Sky Island Alliance
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 860796748
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Tucson, AZ, USA
- Phone
- 5206247080
- Rating
- 67
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Natural Resources Conservation and Protection
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,269,699
- Expenses
- $1,220,270
- Assets
- $1,081,438
- Liabilities
- $293,993
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LOUISE MISZTAL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- LOUISE MISZTAL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $119,323 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We work to connect people, wildlife, and lands across the u.s.-mexico border through the use of science, advocacy, educational activities, community engagement, and on-the-ground conservation initiatives. Our main activities include protecting flowing water at springs and streams; conserving transboundary connectivity and habitat for wildlife; engaging people in understanding, appreciating, and reconnecting to the incredible biodiversity of this region; and fostering the cross-border cooperation and partnerships necessary to conserve the sky islands' interconnected ecosystem.
What it reported doing in 2024
Conservation/community - with the help of our dedicated volunteers, sky island alliance worked to heal the land in 2024. We launched a new project to benefit neotropical migratory birds, many of which winter in mexico. This project on sonoran ranches is assessing the abundance and distribution of key grassland bird species and restoring habitat through erosion control, invasive shrub removal, and native grass reseeding. The project will increase local capacity for monitoring through our partnerships with profauna and advance continental-wide conservation for threatened grassland birds.over the last decade, sky island alliance, the nature conservancy, and hundreds of volunteers removed over 80% of the invasive periwinkle from the banks of aravaipa creek. This effort, in one of the most intact native fisheries left in Arizona, has improved the habitat for native fish. In the huachuca mountains we improved water sources for wildlife to ensure they will be clean and accessible in one of the few remaining cross-border corridors in the sky islands not blocked by border wall.we helped host a binational border bioblitz at cuenca los ojos' ranch in sonora and san bernardino national wildlife refuge in Arizona. Teams of students and volunteers logged more than 600 observations of 221 different species. Throughout the year, we hosted numerous webinars and events to engage the public in learning about the sky islands, including supporting the annual sky islands festival in moctezuma, sonora.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 52
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 41
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 71.5%; rating input score 71
- Program expense ratio: 74.1%; rating input score 74
- Fundraising efficiency: $14.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 3.9%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.89; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 9.8%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 71.5% of revenue deployed · 74.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $905K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $119K · 17 people listed
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.