Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
830264363
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2010
Location
Cody, WY, USA
Phone
3073994383
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Wildlife Preservation, Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$423,717
Expenses
$382,311
Assets
$1,266,175
Liabilities
$402,230

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATIE CHEESBROUGH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • BRALLI CLIFFORD (PRESIDENT)
  • JOHN W HARRIS (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATIE CHEESBROUGH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $72,471 total reported compensation
  • DEAN DIJENNO (ADMIN ASSISTANT): $22,500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To promote, educate, advocate and enhance increasing populations of indigenous wild sheep in Wyoming, to safeguard against the decline or extinction of such species and to develope government and private partnerships to achieve our mission.

What it reported doing in 2025

Educational information mailed to the membership and the public as well as website support. Meetings and networking with federal, state and other organizations who have a direct or indirect influence on wild sheep. Publicaiton material costs to inform the public and membership of ongoing conservation work by the foundation. Cost associated with the executive director.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 69% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.3%; rating input score 93
  • Program expense ratio: 90.6%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 9.8%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.31; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.8%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.3% of revenue deployed · 90.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $346K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $72K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.