The Stewardship Network
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 562471470
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Phone
- 7349963190
- Rating
- 88
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Natural Resources Conservation and Protection
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $916,661
- Expenses
- $1,518,205
- Assets
- $842,118
- Liabilities
- $334,448
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Lisa Brush (Executive Director and President)
Highest reported compensation
- Lisa Brush (Executive Director and President): $122,004 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To connect, equip, and mobilize people and organizations to care for land and water in their communities.
What it reported doing in 2024
EQUIP Member Communities Program The Stewardship Network provides backbone support and technology systems to TSN Member Communities across the nation. Our approach builds inclusivity and diversity into land stewardship efforts and we fully embrace the unique supporting role we play in sparking change through these team efforts. In 2024, The Stewardship Network continued to refine and deliver a suite of support services to Member Communities, which include stewardship training and education coordinator support and leadership development event registration/communications structural technology support and communication services administrative, HR, and fiscal sponsorship services. In 2024, TSN grew its Gloves for Good program, which diverts lightly used work gloves out of the waste system, cleans them, and distributes them throughout our network. See Schedule O for further details.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 63% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 16
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd 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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 22nd 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: -65.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.55; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 26.7% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 83.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $122K · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 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 32/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.