Tahoe Institute for Natural Science

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272379984
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2010
Location
Incline Village, NV, USA
Phone
7752980060
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$356,722
Expenses
$371,776
Assets
$267,781
Liabilities
$12,673

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Will Richardson (Executive Dir.): $78,191 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To advance the natural history, conservation and ecosystem knowledge of the Tahoe region through science, education and outreach.

What it reported doing in 2024

RRESEARCH: TINS continued with our usual suite of Citizen Science coordination, including the Lake Tahoe Mid-winter Bald Eagle Survey, South Lake Tahoe Christmas Bird Count, Mid-winter Raptor Surveys in both Sierra and Carson valleys, North American Butterfly Association Butterfly Counts, and the annual Odonates Mini-blitz. We had 228 volunteers participate in these Citizen Science programs. We continued to participate in joint monitoring efforts of Peregrine Falcon nesting sites around the Tahoe/Truckee region. We continued snowshoe hare monitoring in California State Parks around the Lake Tahoe region, assisted NDOT with surveys for Federally Endangered Carson Wandering Skipper (Pseudocopaeodes eunus obscurus), and collaborated with USFS Region 5 scientists on the Tahoe Environmental Observation Network (TEON) project.

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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.6%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 86.8%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.2%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.72; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.6% of revenue deployed · 86.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $323K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $78K · 9 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.