Wildcare

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
510172331
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Rafael, CA, USA
Phone
4154531000
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$13,574,877
Expenses
$4,045,507
Assets
$28,086,695
Liabilities
$1,441,809

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LINDA STILES (Vice President)
  • VERONICA GECZI (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELLYN WEISEL (EXEC. DIRECTOR): $232,899 total reported compensation
  • ROBERT F KENDALL (FINANCE DIR.): $198,024 total reported compensation
  • JULIANNA SOREM (VETERINARIAN): $165,404 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

WildCare supports people everywhere to live well with wildlife, through a full cycle of programs including wildlife advocacy and information resources, nature education programs, and medical aid for wild animals in need. Each year we treat as many as 3,500 ill, injured and orphaned wild animals in our wildlife hospital, teach 13,000+ children and adults through our acclaimed environmental education programs, and advocate for wildlife at the local, state and national levels.Since our hospitals founding, we have treated and cared for more than 120,000 wild animal patients, and we have engaged more than 1,000,000 children and adults through environmental learning experiences and advocacy.

What it reported doing in 2024

WILDLIFE EDUCATION: WildCares Terwilliger Nature Education programs provide school and youth programs, as well as family nature outings, which connect over 16,000 children and adults to the Bay areas abundant open spaces and wildlife. Our programs aim to strengthen environmental stewardship and responsibility by teaching an appreciation of nature and a respect for wildlife. Our experiential and academically supportive approach to environmental education attracts participation from more than 130 schools and community organizations for the eight Bay Area counties. Through our scholarship program, WildCare is able to provide our programs to students from disadvantaged and low-income backgrounds, so these students no longer have to miss out on nature discovery opportunities that ignite a sense of excitement about science and foster personal connections to the natural world. Through free family nature outings, our robust scholarship and bilingual programming (Spanish/English) ensure that children and families from diverse backgrounds have equal access to environmental education. This is a non-cash scholarship program. The scholarship is a discount of WildCares normal educational program fees using the percentage of the student body used to establish eligibility under the free and reduced lunch program of each school. In past years, an estimated 34% of students participating in our youth programs received a scholarship.WildCares advocacy efforts are committed to preventing wildlife injuries, protecting habitat, and promoting understanding of our wildlife neighbors. Our Living with Wildlife Hotline 415-456-7283 supplies advice on safely rescuing injured and orphaned animals and living well with wildlife to over 15,000 callers each year. Our advocacy team speaks out and encourages community action against harms to wildlife including the use of rat poisons, illegal trapping, tree-trimming during wildlife baby season and many more.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% 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

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 45
  • Transparency & Controls: 76
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 82
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 25.6%; rating input score 26
  • Program expense ratio: 73.8%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 66th 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 70.2%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.94; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.9% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 25.6% of revenue deployed · 73.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $233K · 15 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 26/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.