The River Project
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 954858263
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2022, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2010
- Location
- Tiburon, CA, USA
- Phone
- 4156720559
- Rating
- 43
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Natural Resources Conservation and Protection
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $59,378
- Expenses
- $47,545
- Assets
- $45,490
- Liabilities
- $49,625
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Melanie Winter (President)
- David Brunk (Vice President)
People named in this filing
- Melanie Winter (President)
- Celeste Moye (Treasurer)
- David Brunk (Vice President)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To realize a regenerative, equitable, just, and climate-resilient Los Angeles through radical curiosity, evidence-based watershed planning, and positive action. Through our work we provide local government and communities with the tools to safely adapt to rapidly changing conditions and co-create a climate-resilient future.
What it reported doing in 2024
The River Project serves as an ongoing resource for local government, academia, organizations, and community members interested in watershed management, native habitats, land use, and climate resiliency. We participated in the City's Community Plan Updates, the Local Hazards Mitigation Plan, and the Safety Element of the City's General Plan, as well as the County Climate Adaptation Plan, and the US Army Corps LA River Disposition Study. We served on numerous technical advisory and steering committees, including: the California Biodiversity Network's Systematic Convservation and Stewardship working groups; the Southland 30X30 Regional Advisory Group; the Advisory Committee for the City's Biodiversity Index; the Steering Committee for the Upper Los Angeles River Watershed's Integrated Regional Water Management Group; the Science Advisory Board of Woodbury Univeristy; the Technical Advisory Committee for Taylor Yard's Parcel G2; the Policy Committee of the Green LA Water Group; the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Areas Steering Committee; the Neighborhood Council Sustainability Alliance; and the Urban Waters Federal Partnership for the Los Angeles River. The River Project continues to provide guest lectures for local university cohorts studying various aspects of the river, including policy, history, climate impacts, art, hydrology, and public health.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
- 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
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 1
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 55
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 1.4%; rating input score 1
- Program expense ratio: 1.7%; rating input score 2
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 19.9%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.96; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.09; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -5.8% per year; rating input score 0; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -2.7% per year; rating input score 0; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 1.4% of revenue deployed · 1.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 5 filed program accomplishments · $825 in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 1/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 2/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 4/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.