Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative
Environmental Protection and Conservation | EIN: 81-0535303 | Bozeman MT
Mission: Established in 1997, the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) is connecting and protecting habitat from Yellowstone to Yukon so people and nature can t ... (More)
Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative is a 501(c)(3) organization, with an IRS ruling year of 2000, and donations are tax-deductible.
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Star Rating System by Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator evaluates a nonprofit organization’s financial health including measures of stability, efficiency and sustainability. We also track accountability and transparency policies to ensure the good governance and integrity of the organization.
Exceptional
This charity's score is 98.18, earning it a 4-Star rating. Donors can "Give with Confidence" to this charity.
This score is calculated from two sub-scores:
Finance: 97.44 View details
Accountability & Transparency: 100.00 View details
This score represents Form 990 data from 2018, the latest year published by the IRS.
View this organization’s historical ratings.
Star Rated Report
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Program Expense Ratio
84.8%
The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three 990s).
This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver. Dividing a charity's average program expenses by its average total functional expenses yields this percentage. We calculate the charity's average expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Administrative Expenses
8.5%
As reported by charities on their IRS Form 990, this measure reflects what percent of its total budget a charity spends on overhead, administrative staff and associated costs, and organizational meetings. Dividing a charity's average administrative expenses by its average total functional expenses yields this percentage. We calculate the charity's average expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Fundraising Expenses
6.5%
This measure reflects what a charity spends to raise money. Fundraising expenses can include campaign printing, publicity, mailing, and staffing and costs incurred in soliciting donations, memberships, and grants. Dividing a charity's average fundraising expenses by its average total functional expenses yields this percentage. We calculate the charity's average expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Liabilities to Assets Ratio
14.5%
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent 990).
Part of our goal in rating the financial performance of charities is to help donors assess the financial capacity and sustainability of a charity. As do organizations in other sectors, charities must be mindful of their management of total liabilites in relation to their total assets. This ratio is an indicator of an organization’s solvency and or long term sustainability. Dividing a charity's total liabilities by its total assets yields this percentage.
Source: IRS Form 990
Fundraising Efficiency
$0.04
The amount spent to raise $1 in charitable contributions. To calculate a charity's fundraising efficiency, we divide its average fundraising expenses by the average total contributions it receives. We calculate the charity's average expenses and average contributions over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Working Capital Ratio
1.41 years
Determines how long a charity could sustain its level of spending using its net available assets, or working capital, as reported on its most recently filed Form 990. We include in a charity's working capital unrestricted and temporarily restricted net assets, and exclude permanently restricted net assets. Dividing these net available assets in the most recent year by a charity's average total expenses, yields the working capital ratio. We calculate the charity's average total expenses over its three most recent fiscal years.
Source: IRS Form 990
Program Expense Growth
30.46%
We compute the average annual growth of program expenses using the following formula: [(Yn/Y0)(1/n)]-1, where Y0 is a charity's program expenses in the first year of the interval analyzed, Yn is the charity's program expenses in the most recent year, and n is the interval of years passed between Y0 and Yn.
Source: IRS Form 990
Governance
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990 that the organization has these governance practices in place.
Sources Include: IRS Form 990
| Governance: | |
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| Independent Voting Board Members ... (More) | |
| No Material Diversion of Assets ... (More) A diversion of assets – any unauthorized conversion or use of the organization's assets other than for the organization's authorized purposes, including but not limited to embezzlement or theft – can seriously call into question a charity's financial integrity. We check the charity's last two Forms 990 to see if the charity has reported any diversion of assets. If the charity does report a diversion, then we check to see if it complied with the Form 990 instructions by describing what happened and its corrective action. This metric will be assigned to one of the following categories:
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| Audited Financials Prepared by Independent Accountant ... (More) Audited financial statements provide important information about financial accountability and accuracy. They should be prepared by an independent accountant with oversight from an audit committee. (It is not necessary that the audit committee be a separate committee. Often at smaller charities, it falls within the responsibilities of the finance committee or the executive committee.) The committee provides an important oversight layer between the management of the organization, which is responsible for the financial information reported, and the independent accountant, who reviews the financials and issues an opinion based on its findings. We check the charity's Form 990 reporting to see if it meets this criteria.
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| Does Not Provide Loan(s) to or Receive Loan(s) From Related Parties ... (More) | |
| Documents Board Meeting Minutes ... (More) | |
| Distributes 990 to Board Before Filing ... (More) | |
| Compensates Board ... (More) |
Policies
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990, or for some metrics on the charity's website, that the organization has these policies in place.
Sources Include: IRS Form 990 and organization's website
| Policies: | |
|---|---|
| Conflict of Interest ... (More) | |
| Whistleblower ... (More) | |
| Records Retention and Destruction ... (More) | |
| CEO Compensation Process ... (More) | |
| Donor Privacy ... (More) Donors have expressed extreme concern about the use of their personal information by charities and the desire to have this information kept confidential. The exchanging and sale of lists for telemarketing and the mass distribution of "junk mail," among other things, can be minimized if the charity assures the privacy of its donors. Privacy policies are assigned to one of the following categories:
The privacy policy must be specific to donor information. A general website policy which references "visitor" or "user" personal information will not suffice. A policy that refers to donor information collected on the website is also not sufficient as the policy must be comprehensive and applicable to both online and offline donors. The existence of a privacy policy of any type does not prohibit the charity itself from contacting the donor for informational, educational, or solicitation purposes. (Less) |
Transparency
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990, or for some metrics on the charity's website, that the organization makes this information easily accessible.
Sources Include: IRS Form 990 and organization's website
| Transparency: | |
|---|---|
| CEO Salary Listed on 990 ... (More) | |
| Board of Directors Listed on Website ... (More) | |
| Key Staff Listed on Website ... (More) | |
| Audited Financial Statements on Website ... (More) | |
| Form 990 Available on Website ... (More) |
Additional Information
Unscored
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Total Revenue and Expenses
No Data Available
Revenue and expense data is not available for this organization. This data is only available if this charity has at least one year of electronically-filed Form 990 data.
Salary of Key Persons
Presented here are this organizations key compensated staff members as identified by our analysts. This compensation data includes salary, cash bonuses and expense accounts and is displayed exactly how it is reported to the IRS. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on W-2. In some cases, these amounts may include compensation from related organizations. Read the IRS policies for compensation reporting
Jodi Hilty, President and Chief Scientist
$0 (0.00% of Total Expenses)
Source: IRS Form 990.
Business Master File Data
Below are some key data points from the Exempt Organization IRS Business Master File (BMF) for this organization. Learn more about the BMF on the IRS website
Activities:
Activity data not reported from the IRS
Foundation Status:
Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (BMF foundation code: 15)
Affiliation:
Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). (BMF affiliation code: 3)
Data Sources: IRS Forms 990
The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage finance and accountability data from it to form Encompass ratings. Click here to view this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available).
Pandemic Response
Due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, we give charities such as this one the opportunity to share the story of COVID's impact on them. Charities may submit their own pandemic responses through their nonprofit portal.
Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative reported being impacted by COVID-19 in the following ways:
Program Delivery
Fundraising Capacity
Administrative Capacity
Balance Sheet
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's operations financially:
When the pandemic hit, we anticipated reduced income and expenditure and revised our expenses down accordingly, as part of a responsible and conservative approach. As the year progressed, it became clear that although some funding and donations were negatively impacted, those that could step up (both funders and individual donors) were doing so. We therefore ultimately raised enough funds to cover the original pre-Covid budget, but because of early adjustments to forecasts, and reduced expenses where programs had moved online (and/or extensions to some project grants), and concerns about the ongoing impact of the pandemic, our expenditure in 2020 was under budget.
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's delivery of programs:
We had reduced capacity for, and were unable to carry out, a small number of activities, and moved others online. This entailed some adjustment to programs, and to budgets, and led us to extend some grant periods.
How this organization adapted to changing conditions caused by COVID-19:
We worked nimbly to move many activities online, or to adjust activities to the new 'virtual' reality. For example, a number of planned in-person webinars, workshops and meetings become Zoom events.
Innovations the organization intends to continue permanently after the pandemic:
The scale of the (2000-mile-long) Y2Y region means that it can be tricky to meaningfully engage people in person; switching some events online enabled us to reach many more people, albeit in a slightly different way. We hope to take the best of 'virtual' events and opportunities (including increased remote-working for some staff) and continue them into the future.
Historical Ratings
| Date Published | Form 990 FYE | Overall Score | Overall Rating |
| Rating Version: 2.1 | |||
| 3/1/2020 | 2018 | 98.18 | |
| 7/1/2019 | 2017 | 95.76 | |
| 11/2/2018 | 2016 | 92.74 | |
| 9/1/2018 | 2016 | 85.48 |  |
This organization received multiple star ratings within this fiscal year, due to an update to it's Accountability and Transparency data and/or the receipt of an amended Form 990. | |||
| 2/1/2017 | 2015 | 95.77 | |
| 9/1/2016 | 2014 | 91.08 | |
| 6/1/2016 | 2014 | 89.66 | |
| Rating Version: 2.0 | |||
| 11/1/2015 | 2014 | 80.57 | |
| 5/1/2015 | 2013 | 85.54 | |
| 12/1/2013 | 2012 | 93.57 | |
| 12/1/2012 | 2011 | 96.44 | |
| 12/1/2011 | 2010 | 78.54 |  |
| 9/20/2011 | 2009 | 86.39 | |
| Rating Version: 1.0 | |||
| 2/1/2011 | 2009 | 86.67 | |
| 3/1/2010 | 2008 | 91.20 | |
| 12/1/2008 | 2007 | 88.54 | |
| 2/1/2008 | 2006 | 82.34 | |
| 2/1/2007 | 2005 | 68.58 |  |
Impact & Results
This score estimates the actual impact a nonprofit has on the lives of those it serves, and determines whether it is making good use of donor resources to achieve that impact.
Impact & Results Score
Not Currently Scored
Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative cannot currently be evaluated by our Encompass Rating Impact & Results methodology because either (A) it is eligible, but we have not yet received data; (B) we have not yet developed an algorithm to estimate its programmatic impact; (C) its programs are not direct services; or (D) it is not heavily reliant on contributions from individual donors.
Note: The absence of a score does not indicate a positive or negative assessment, it only indicates that we have not yet evaluated the organization.
Do you work at Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative? Join the waitlist for an updated Impact & Results score.
Leadership & Adaptability
This score provides an assessment of the organization's leadership capacity, strategic thinking and planning, and ability to innovate or respond to changes in constituent demand/need or other relevant social and economic conditions to achieve the organization's mission.
Leadership & Adaptability Score
100
out of 100
The score earned by Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative is a passing score.
Encompass Rating V4 provides an evaluation of the organization's Leadership & Adaptability through the nonprofit organization submitting a survey response directly to Charity Navigator.
Leadership & Adaptability Report
100
of 100 points
Mission
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s mission
Connecting and protecting habitat from Yellowstone to Yukon so people and nature can thrive.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Vision
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s vision.
An interconnected system of wild lands and waters stretching from Yellowstone to Yukon, harmonizing the needs of people with those of nature.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Strategic Goals
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: To protect core wildlife habitats, including headwaters
Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.
Goal Two: To keep core wildlife habitats connected through functional wildlife corridors - or to restore them where necessary
Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.
Goal Three: To support thriving communities that live in harmony with nature; and to inspire others to engage in similar work
Goal Type: This goal reflects our commitment to further our advocacy work for our organization and or cause area.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Leadership Development
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development
Describe an investment in leadership
Staff across the organization are regularly invited to participate in TREC (Training Resources for the Environmental Community) leadership training and other targeted professional development. As an organization (board and staff), we have also committed to and are undertaking in-depth diversity, equity and inclusion training and practice.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Mobilizing for Mission
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
This organization mobilizes for mission in the following ways:
Strategic Partnerships
Networks of Collective Impact Efforts
Thought Leadership
Raising Awareness
Community Building
Policy Advocacy
What are this organization’s external mobilizaton efforts?
Y2Y works at local, regional, national and global scales to advance connectivity conservation, for example working with over 460 partners; mobilizing communities and influencers; government relations and policy work; and playing a lead role in setting global (IUCN) guidelines for ecological corridors.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Story of Adaptability
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
Thanks to a strong staff and board team, and to funders and donors that were able to stepping up, Y2Y reacted nimbly and effectively in the face of the pandemic. We initially modified our budget and undertook careful scenario-planning (though we were later able to work largely to our original budget); scaled back on some strategic objectives where necessary (although most work was able to continue, albeit 'virtually'); moved the majority of activities and meetings online rather than in-person; and doubled down on efforts to stay connected with and to mobilize communities and partners as new challenges and opportunities emerged. A fuller account of our work, adaptation and conservation progress in 2020 can be found in our Annual Report (being published on our website summer '21).
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Culture & Community
This score provides an assessment of the organization's engagement with the constituents it serves, a practice we term Constituent Feedback. When organizations listen to constituents, they are able to better deliver on programs and meet the needs of stakeholders. A future version of this Beacon will also assess an organization's people operations and its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) metrics.
Culture & Community Score
Not Currently Scored
Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative is currently not eligible for a Culture & Community score because we have not received its Constituent Feedback data. Nonprofit organizations are encouraged to fill out the How We Listen section of their Candid profile. This data will provide the basis for the initial evaluation of Culture & Community.
Note: The absence of a score does not indicate a positive or negative assessment, it only indicates that we have not yet evaluated the organization.
Culture & Community Report
Unscored
This beta feature is currently viewable only on desktop or tablet screens. Check back later for updates.
Constituent Feedback
Constituent Feedback and Listening Practice data are not available for this organization. Nonprofit organizations are encouraged to fill out the How We Listen section of their Candid profile. This data will provide the basis for the initial evaluation of Culture & Community.
Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations that engage in inclusive practices, such as collecting feedback from the people and communities they serve, may be more effective. We award every nonprofit that completes the Candid survey full credit for this Beacon, in recognition of their willingness to publicly share this information with the nonprofit and philanthropic communities. Although the data is not evaluated for quality at this time, future iterations of this Beacon will include third party or other data that will serve to validate the information provided by the nonprofit.
Analysis and Research
Like the overall Encompass Rating System, the Culture & Community Beacon is designed to evolve as metrics are developed and ready for integration. Our partnership with Feedback Labs and Guidestar by Candid, and other partners including Fund for Shared Insight, GlobalGiving, and Keystone Accountability, enables us to launch the first version of this beacon with Constituent Feedback information collected on Candid's site.
Feedback practices have been shown to support better Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion outcomes, an essential area of assessment that we intend to further expand and develop in the future. Feedback Labs has documented several studies which indicate that beyond achieving organizational goals, nonprofits that are attentive and responsive to concerns and ideas raised by beneficiaries establish stronger relationships with the people they serve, promote greater equity, and empower constituents in ways that can help to ensure better long-term outcomes. You can find resources to help nonprofits improve their feedback practices here.
