Trees Water & People
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 841462044
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
- Location
- Fort Collins, CO, USA
- Phone
- 9704843678
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Natural Resources Conservation and Protection
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,058,683
- Expenses
- $3,057,604
- Assets
- $2,342,973
- Liabilities
- $510,289
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JAKE TORNATZKY (PRESIDENT)
- TIM KASTEN (VICE PRESIDENT)
- SEBASTIAN AFRICANO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- SEBASTIAN AFRICANO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $107,269 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Trees, water and people is dedicated to provide a community-based approach to sustainable development through reforestation, watershed protection, cleantech and clean cookstoves, and educational programs in latin america and indigenous lands in the united states. Our work is guided by two core beliefs: natural resources are best protected when the local community plays an active role in their care and management; and the preservation of local ecosystems is essential for ongoing social, economic and environmental health of communities elsewhere.
What it reported doing in 2025
Mesoamerica program education, training and community development in the areas of reforestation, fuel-efficient cookstoves, food security and environmental education programs in central american countries, as well as mexico.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 69% for direct work, and 31% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 75
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 32
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 77%; rating input score 77
- Program expense ratio: 76.7%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: $7.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th 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: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- 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: 0%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.77; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 77% of revenue deployed · 76.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $2.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $107K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
- 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: 8 of 8 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.