Slide Ranch

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237069469
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Muir Beach, CA, USA
Phone
4153816155
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,038,918
Expenses
$1,491,278
Assets
$2,081,864
Liabilities
$270,191

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MYLA MARKS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • LYNN LEWIS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ROBERT LAWRENCE (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MYLA MARKS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $155,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of slide ranch is to connect children to nature. Slide ranch cultivates healthy bodies and minds and fosters future generations of environmental stewards. By farming, cooking, caring for animals and exploring coastal wilderness, slide ranch teaches people

What it reported doing in 2024

Each year, seven interns are selected from a highly competitive group of applicants to participate in an eleven-month residential teaching internship; four additional interns come for a three-month summer internship. Slide ranchs teachers-in-residence program provides intensive professional teacher training in all aspects of outdoor environmental education, stewardship, and sustainable agriculture. Interns live and work at the ranch, planning and leading experiential environmental education programs for over 8,000 program participants each year. Teachers-in-residence also learn how to operate a sustainable farm, including growing and harvesting food, land stewardship and best practices in animal husbandry.

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. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 74.8%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.55 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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: 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: -43.5%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.4; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.4%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.1% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 74.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $155K · 11 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.