Washington Wildlife First
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 871701857
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2021
- Location
- Copalis Crossing, WA, USA
- Phone
- 2066018476
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $422,181
- Expenses
- $341,918
- Assets
- $177,273
- Liabilities
- $6,242
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Claire Loebs Davis (President, Interim Executive Director)
- Peter Hapke (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Claire Loebs Davis (President, Interim Executive Director): $59,400 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Washington Wildlife First is the nation's only state-based advocacy group dedicated to reforming state wildlife policy. We seek to transform Washington's relationship with its fish and wildlife from an approach centered around consumptive use to a more democratic paradigm that values science, recognizes the intrinsic value of individual animals, and prioritizes protecting, preserving and perpetuating wild lives.
What it reported doing in 2024
Public Engagement and Grassroots Advocacy: We focus on educating and empowering the Washington public to demand a state Department of Fish and Wildlife that is ethical, scientific, and reflective of Washington values. We provide a broader view of how the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) falls short of its responsibility to act as a public trustee for wildlife, as well as keeping the public informed about current policy issues. We develop strategies to address emergent issues, develop talking points, coordinate letter-writing campaigns, and host workshops to help people learn how to advocate effectively. We have built a coalition of fish and wildlife advocacy groups to help us mobilize broad grassroots involvement. At the state Fish and Wildlife Commission, our grassroots campaigns brought an end to Washington's recreational spring bear hunt; defeated a WDFW proposal to prematurely downlist wolves on the state endangered species list; and obtained passage of rules to reduce bear and cougar mortality to more sustainable and ethical levels. At the legislative level, our campaigns promote legislation to improve state wildlife policy and reform the wildlife governance system, while also helping to defeat harmful legislation, including attempts to weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act and frequent efforts to decrease protections for gray wolves.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 98% 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 78
- Sustainability: 48
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 69.9%; rating input score 70
- Program expense ratio: 86%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: $14.24 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 19%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.52; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 17.4%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 43.3% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 35.7% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 50.7% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 69.9% of revenue deployed · 86% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $294K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $59K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.