Trout Lake Nature Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
593039878
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Eustis, FL, USA
Phone
3523577536
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,403,194
Expenses
$352,551
Assets
$3,440,561
Liabilities
$19,802

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STANLEY NAPIER (Vice President)
  • CATHIE CATASUS (President)

People named in this filing

  • STANLEY NAPIER (Vice President)
  • GREGG COLLIER (Director)
  • CHRISTINE CRUZ (DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission emphasizes environmental education for children and adults. The children's education, largely for elementary schools is designed in conjunction with Florida state standards and administered by volunteers and staff. The adult programs involve staff and non-staff experts conducting activities on site and also include visits to other locations.

What it reported doing in 2025

The mission of the trout lake nature center is to connect people with nature through education and conservation. Programming is provided for students, homeschoolers and youth organizations. School programs include field trips with activities that are correlated to Florida's science education standards and vary by grade level. In-school presentations are provided per grade level on a class by class basis. Concepts such as food webs, adaptations, water quality, vertebrates and invertebrates, classification of species, weather, biodiversity and more are taught through interactive lessons. In addition to teaching science concepts, students and youth make valuable connections to nature and our natural resources.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 72% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 47
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 89
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 22.4%; rating input score 22
  • Program expense ratio: 79.9%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $38.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 71; 71st 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 74.9%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.76; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 22.4% of revenue deployed · 79.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $282K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 22/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.