The Norman Bird Sanctuary Trust
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 222746733
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Middletown, RI, USA
- Phone
- 4018462577
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Bird Sanctuary, Preserve
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,994,113
- Expenses
- $1,740,232
- Assets
- $12,209,076
- Liabilities
- $668,314
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- KAITLIN RYAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- KAITLIN RYAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $147,308 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to spark people's curiosity to explore, steward, and find peace and joy in nature. In service to this, norman bird sanctuary inspires, builds, and engages a community of stewards who preserve, protect, enjoy, and learn from the ecosystem within and beyond our stone walls. We foster lifelong connections between people and our dynamic natural world.
What it reported doing in 2024
Sanctuary preservation - the organization is charged with the preservation of more than 300 acres of habitat of diverse and often rare species of animals and plants. The organization undertook a comprehensive invasive plant management plan which provides an exhaustive study of the wildlife sanctuary and identifies over 150 separate areas that contain invasive plants and providing a plan for their control. The organization's staff and groups of dedicated volunteers have implemented initial invasives management priorities using only manual and mechanical methods, not chemicals. As part of the wildlife sanctuary, the organization maintains and preserves one of the oldest intact 18th century farmhouses on over 200 acres in the united states. The organization's multi-year investments in long-range planning provides a detailed road map for the thoughtful stewardship of the wildlife habitats and historic facilities in the organization's care.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 61% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 63
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 68
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 64%; rating input score 64
- Program expense ratio: 71.4%; rating input score 71
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 12.7%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.02; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.5%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 64% of revenue deployed · 71.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $147K · 16 people listed
- Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.