The Gaia-Movement Living Earth Green World Action USA Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
364284332
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7736517870
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Pollution Abatement and Control Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,111,824
Expenses
$1,238,740
Assets
$736,662
Liabilities
$167,123

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Eva Nielsen (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Marianne Thomsen (Clerk/Secretary): $60,000 total reported compensation
  • Eva Nielsen (President): $36,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To protect the environment through reuse and recycling clothes and shoes and keeping them out of the landfills to reduce the environmental impact of textiles. To educate the general public about the environment and to help mitigate and adapt to climate change for those hardest affected in the world.

What it reported doing in 2025

Global Programs programs outside of USA: The Gaia Movement USA supports Farmers' Clubs in Zimbabwe in two different regions - Mutasa with 750 farmers and Chivi with 1500 farmers and their families. They are all smallholder farmers. The support started in September 2021 and will continue for 2 and 3 years respectively. In 2025 we supported a new farmers club in Hwedza with 1000 farmers with 2025 being the 1st of 3 years.Gaia supports smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. The climate crisis the planet is facing is already affecting many smallholder farmers as they experience drought, heavy rain falls and changing climate pattern. They cannot grow food as they used to do. They need new methods.More than 90% of all farms in the world are run by an individual or a family and rely primarily on family labor. Family farms occupy a large share of the world's agricultural land and produce about 80% of the world's food.Smallholder farmers are the frontline response to the world's environmental and social crisis.It is important to support them.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 78% for direct work, and 22% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 68
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.5%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0.09 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Limited
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • 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: 99%; rating input score 99; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.4%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.7%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -12.5% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -8.9% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -9% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.5% of revenue deployed · 83.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes foreign activity
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 2/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.