Smith River Alliance Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942650838
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Crescent City, CA, USA
Phone
7074583355
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,183,328
Expenses
$5,854,825
Assets
$6,059,715
Liabilities
$571,017

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • David Katz (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Patricia McCleary (CO-Executive Di): $131,828 total reported compensation
  • Grant Werschkull (CO-Executive Di): $130,436 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the Smith River Alliance is to provide for the long-term protection, restoration and stewardship of natural resources in the Smith River watershed.

What it reported doing in 2025

SRNRA Protection and Stewardship: SRA is a leader in the campaign to expand permanent protections for the headwaters of the Smith in OR. The Smith River is one of the crown jewels of the National Wild and Scenic River System with over 300 miles of the Smith are included in the National Wild and Scenic River System, created to protect outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, for preservation in a free-flowing condition. Rock Creek Ranch is located on a sweeping bend of the South Fork of the Smith River, this is the home base of SRA where the seasons are felt and facilities are available to support SRA programs and visitors. The facility hosts visitors seasonally, including the Annual Adult Fish Count at the ranch. SRA operates a coastal clean-up program which attracts a significant number of volunteers dedicated to cleaning our beaches. SRA continued work with the Smith River NRA Collaborative, a joint venture between the Six Rivers National Forest, Elk Valley Rancheria, the Tolowa Dee-ni Nation, Del Norte County, Del Norte Fire Safe Council, local and regional groups. These partners advance forest and aquatic restoration and management on the Smith River NRA.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 94% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 92.4%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $117.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 89; 89th 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.3%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.03; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.5%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.3% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.7% of revenue deployed · 92.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $132K · 9 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.2M reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.