Tahoe Nordic Search & Rescue Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942737988
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2017
Location
Tahoe City, CA, USA
Phone
5305462809
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$498,963
Expenses
$160,927
Assets
$826,813
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARAH KRAMMEN (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • MATT JACOBS (VICE PRESIDE)
  • SARAH KRAMMEN (PRESIDENT)
  • LIZ LEE (SECRETARY)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The tahoe nordic search and rescue team (tnsar) ... Was conceived in 1976 as a response to the death of a boy lost off the back side of northstar-at-tahoe ski area during a blizzard. There was, at the time, no organized backcountry team to help search for the boy. Desperate phone calls to some local nordic skiers produced a search party that eventually located the youth, but only after it was too late. This group of skiers, along with the boy's father (who today still remains a tnsar member), realized there was an important void to be filled. Thus, the tahoe nordic search & rescue team was born. Based in the north lake tahoe/truckee area, the team has matured considerably after these many years but the goals remain the same: conducting fast, safe rescues and educating the public on winter safety. In february 2006 the California governor's office of emergency services completed the alpine team guidelines for search and rescue mutual aid, a document that will help to establish standards

What it reported doing in 2025

Tnsar is called out many times each year responding to a variety of search and rescue operations. Wandering children, lost hunters, urban disasters, mud slides, avalanches, ski lift evacuations, downed aircraft, and snow- bound shepherds: these are but a sampling of the incidents that the team has responded to throughout California and Nevada. No two "callouts" are ever the same. The majority of tnsar's responses, however, are for individuals lost in the winter wilderness of the sierra Nevada. Tnsar has located hundreds of individuals; the majority of these have been patrons of a ski resort that have strayed from the area's boundary into unfamiliar and rugged mountain terrain. The majority of these searches (and rescues) have historically occurred at night and during poor weather. Tnsar has conducted searches originating from most all of the lake tahoe ski areas, and has maintained an unrivaled success rate for finding these lost recreationists.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 54
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 85
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 28.9%; rating input score 29
  • Program expense ratio: 86.2%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $67.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 79; 79th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 67.7%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.14; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 28.9% of revenue deployed · 86.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $139K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 29/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.