The Woods Project Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
262959996
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
2813716696
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Camps

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,049,311
Expenses
$1,093,485
Assets
$1,123,104
Liabilities
$77,678

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • NATALIE HAUSMAN-WEISS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • NATALIE HAUSMAN-WEISS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $132,285 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The woods project creates wilderness exploration experiences that promote academic success, college and career readiness, and lifelong thriving for houston high school students who wouldn't otherwise have access to these opportunities.

What it reported doing in 2024

The woods project served 511 unique students with 2,705 nights in the woods through 2024-25 school year programs, which included after-school club, weekend overnight camping and backpacking trips, weekend daytime workshops, and our junior leaders program. During our capstone 2-week summer program, twp served 170 houston high school students. Notably, 97% of summer student participants demonstrated gains in at least one core social emotional learning capacity (social skills, positive identity, contribution, academic self-efficacy, selfmanagement).

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 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 - 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: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.9%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 73.4%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.2%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.03; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.1%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.9% of revenue deployed · 73.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $803K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $132K · 19 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 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
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.