Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Mar 1966.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
78 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
31 people listed on the 990; $501K paid to officers and key staff.
Laura Bea Armstrong’s $186K as Executive Di is at the 79th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1851 $1–10M environment nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laura Bea Armstrong | $185,582 | $165,576 | $161,877 | $55,548 | — | — |
| Whitney Montgomery | — | — | — | — | $161,417 | $172,574 |
| Ken Lawson | — | — | — | $128,788 | $23,040 | — |
| Karen Sare | $108,787 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jan Letendre | $104,865 | $108,767 | $106,542 | $99,551 | $94,078 | $52,469 |
| William Murray | — | — | — | $103,070 | — | — |
| Bill Murray | $102,222 | $101,853 | $97,096 | — | $88,464 | — |
| Michael Smith | — | — | — | — | — | $74,554 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Empowers individuals to transform their lives through challenging experiences and new discoveries.
Questions for North Carolina Outward Bound School
Your first name shows with your question. North Carolina Outward Bound School answers here, for everyone.
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During the fiscal year, ncobs engaged 2,256 students in transformative learning experiences spanning 11,872 student participant days. Participants ranged from youth to teens to adults, educators, veterans, and professionals.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $3.3M | $2.6M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $22.1M | $21.8M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $2.8M | $2.8M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $29.3M | $28.7M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $2.5M | $2.4M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $26.7M | $26.3M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $1.5M | $1.5M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $397K | $109K | $248K | $40K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $3.1M | $2.5M | $344K | $224K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $301K | $228K | $50K | $23K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $253K | $190K | $44K | $19K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $64K | $48K | $16K | |
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $62K | $62K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $339K | $206K | $132K | $1K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $58K | $26K | $8K | $24K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $38K | $7K | $22K | $9K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $96K | $45K | $42K | $9K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $157K | $108K | $49K | $1K |
| TravelLn 17 | $178K | $169K | $5K | $3K |
| InterestLn 20 | $57K | $29K | $29K | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $316K | $237K | $79K | |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $341K | $273K | $68K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $882K | $646K | $230K | $6K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $153K | $129K | $23K | $123 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $8.2M | $6.4M | $1.5M | $359K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $7.5M | $8.2M | −$736K | $26.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $8.4M | $8.2M | $200K | $26.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $5.8M | $7.0M | −$1.2M | $24.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $8.8M | $6.2M | $2.6M | $28.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $4.4M | $4.3M | $104K | $25.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $11.1M | $10.3M | $816K | $20.1M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $7,504,454 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 27 of 27 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $7,504,454 across 8 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $8,240,241 across 18 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $28,688,039 assets, 19 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $26,270,896 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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