World Rainforest Fund
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 942914127
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2023–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2025
- Location
- Walnut Creek, CA, USA
- Phone
- 9259389206
- Rating
- 56
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Land Resources Conservation
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $19,185
- Expenses
- $32,000
- Assets
- $65,064
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- David Seaborg (President)
People named in this filing
- David Seaborg (President)
- Peter Eggleton (Treasurer)
- Steve Garan (Secretary)
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
To save rainforest through public education and by empowering indigenous people of the rainforest by giving them grants to fund projects they carry out to save their rainforest homes.
What it reported doing in 2025
Grant to Khamai Foundation to expand the Pitala Reserve, doubling its size, adding 152 hectares (376 acres), in Ecuador, that we helped set up in the past. The expansion of this reserve protects the rainforest from the threat of goldminers, a proposed destructive raod, and ranchers. This rainforest was found to have among the highest biodiversity in the world by the Map of Life, the world's leading biodiversity survey of scientists. The reserve protects an estimated 400 species of fish, 300 species of reptiles and amphibians, hundreds of species of mammals, and over 100,000 species of invertebrates. The expansion of it also protects the endangered spotted rocket frog.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
MIXED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 46
- Accountability: 12
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 19th 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: Limited
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -66.8%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.03; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 31.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -58.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -7.3% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $32K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes foreign activity
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.