Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
800030060
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2025963450
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Forest Conservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$13,540,166
Expenses
$13,812,951
Assets
$12,904,391
Liabilities
$3,004,523

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

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATHY ABUSOW (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATHY ABUSOW (PRESIDENT & CEO): $937,010 total reported compensation
  • JASON METNICK (SVP CUSTOMER AFFAIRS): $293,167 total reported compensation
  • NADINE BLOCK (SVP COMMUNITY & GOV'T RELATIONS): $291,058 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 sustainable forestry initiative (sfi) inc. Is an independent, non-profit organization with a mission to advance sustainability through forest-focused collaborations. Sfi is a leader through collaboration in standards, conservation, community, and education with an emphasis on practical solutions demonstrated by progress on the ground. Sfi standards have become a highly trusted solution that can support a growing need for products from sustainably managed forests.the conservation pillar advances conservation objectives in our standards across forests in the united states and canada through targeted research, leadership of critical initiatives, and partnerships that advance multiple conservation efforts. The community network helps link our pillars, promote learning, and increase our scale. Project learning tree (plt), sfi's education program advances environmental education, forest literacy and career pathways using trees and forests as windows on to the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Promotion and communication: in 2024, sfi hosted an annual conference in collaboration in atlanta, Georgia. Sfi also hosted its largest ever youth delegates cohort at the 2024 annual conference with over 50 participants. Participants of the youth delegates program had opportunities to navigate their early careers, network with professionals, and engage in important discussions. The sfi annual conference brings together people from the conservation, community, education, and economic sectors who care about forests. Attendees included ceos of fortune 500 companies, conservation and community leaders, indigenous representatives, forest managers, university faculty and students, government officials, and many more. More than 450 people joined the 2024 sfi annual conference. Sfi unveiled its sfi 2025-2030 strategic direction at the 2024 sfi annual conference. More than 400 thought leaders contributed to shaping the sfi 2025-2030 strategic direction. It includes a theory of change framework designed to enhance our impact by engaging communities in a collaborative world that values and benefits from sustainably managed forests.sfi provides facilities, management and administrative services to project learning tree canada (plt canada), a charitable non-profit in canada. Plt canada works to use the outdoors to engage youth in learning about the world around us and advance environmental education, forest literacy and career pathways using trees and forests as windows on the world. Sfi is the sole member of plt canada and the plt canada board represents a subset of the sfi board. In 2024, plt canada worked with partners to place young adults into nearly 400 green jobs across the country. Since 2018, sfi and plt canada have placed over 8,100 young adults into green jobs in the forest and conservation sector.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 82% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.2%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 87%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 84.2%; rating input score 84; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: -2%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.93; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.1% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.2% of revenue deployed · 87% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $12M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $937K · 31 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $372K reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 37 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 29 filed related-organization links
  • 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: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 34/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.