The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 621587327
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Hohenwald, TN, USA
- Phone
- 9317966500
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Protection of Endangered Species
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $10,746,410
- Expenses
- $8,147,475
- Assets
- $111,441,209
- Liabilities
- $9,911
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DR WILLIAM SCHAFFNER (VICE PRESIDENT)
- JANICE ZEITLIN (PRESIDENT / CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- JANICE ZEITLIN (PRESIDENT / CEO): $176,445 total reported compensation
- STEVE SHURTER (COO): $159,002 total reported compensation
- STEPHANIE MCCAIN (VETERINARIAN): $131,632 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Provide a natural habitat refuge developed around the needs of asian and african elephants where elephants are provided with lifetime care; to support and promote elephant welfare and conservation; to provide and support public education regarding the complex needs of elephants and the challenges facing elephants in the wild.
What it reported doing in 2025
Education program- the organization seeks to raise public awareness of the complex needs of elephants and the crisis facing elephants in the wild by providing education opportunities for the public relating to elephant care and habitat, including materials and programs within the elephant discovery center and on-line distance learning.these education opportunities resulted in:*12,615 students in 40 states and 6 countries participated in distance learning programs; 121 volunteers onsite which included 2 college alternative spring breaks and 12 volunteer days.*3,100 visitors came to the elephant discovery center
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some related-organization disclosures are missing and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 76
- Transparency & Controls: 69
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 80
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 69.9%; rating input score 70
- Program expense ratio: 89.9%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: $31.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- 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: Limited
- May suspend future funding: Limited
- Requires financial reports: Limited
- Conducts site visits: Limited
- Requires grant agreements: Limited
- May require repayment: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 97.9%; rating input score 98; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 24.2%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.68; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.3%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 69.9% of revenue deployed · 89.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $7.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $176K · 9 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $4.7M reported
- Consistency: 38 of 40 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2 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.
- 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: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.