Braided River FY2023 filing

Seattle, WA · Public charity (501(c)(3)) · Since 2007 · Environment

✓ Tax-deductible Latest data FY2023
Revenue
$1.1M
▲ +62% vs prior year
Spent
$1.1M
To programs
95%
Net assets
$533K
You’re viewing the FY2023 filing — not the latest on file. See the latest (FY2024) →

Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 2023 (IRS tax year 2022).

Status and standing

Tax-deductible?
Yes
Per the IRS master file.
Can I give now?
No revocation on IRS record
Not on the IRS revocation list.
Filing up to date?
Filed FY2024 (typical filing lag)
Foundation funders?
1 funder — Raynier Institute & Foundation
$10K in the latest grant year.
Spent on programs?
95% to programs
Form 990 Part IX, latest filing.
Size and trend
$100K–1M
↑ +62% vs prior year
Legal name (IRS)Hdr · item CBraided River
EINHdr · item D74-3237319
Exempt statusHdr · item I501(c)(3) · active
Ruling yearIRS BMFJul 2008
Year of formationHdr · item L2007
Latest filingForm 990FY2024 · Form 990
Principal addressHdr · item CSeattle, WA
NTEE classificationIRS BMFEnvironment (C123)
WebsiteHdr · item Jwww.braidedriver.org

Where the money goes

Statement of Functional Expenses

Part IX · allocated across program, management, and fundraising
Allocation · columns B–D
Program services $0.95 Management & general $0.04 Fundraising $0.00
Program services95%$1.0M
Management & general4%$48K
Fundraising$5K
Total functional expensesLn 25$1.1M

Financial health

Revenue & expenses by yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$1.1M
FY2023▲ +62%
Expenses
$1.1M
FY2023▲ +249%
Program efficiency
95%
of spending reaches programs
Operating runway
6.0mo
months of highly liquid reserves at operating expense rate
Surplus margin
+5%
revenue over expenses, this year

Summary of the Filing

Part I · fiscal year 2023 · Form 990
Total assets
$548K
FY2023▼ -58%
Total liabilities
$16K
FY2023▼ -98%
Revenue less expensesPt I · Ln 19$56K
Total assetsPt X · Ln 16$548K
Program-expense ratioPt IX · col B95%
Voting members of governing bodyPt I · Ln 37
Independent voting membersPt I · Ln 47

Balance Sheet

Part X · end of year
CashLn 1$548K
Total assetsLn 16$548K
Total liabilitiesLn 26$16K
Total net assetsLn 32$533K
Months of cash on handcomputed6.0

Statement of Revenue

Part VIII
Contributions & grants$1.1M · 91%
Other revenue$96K · 8%
Contributions & grants91%$1.1M
Other revenue8%$96K
Investment income$3K
— government grantsLn 1e$30K
Total revenueLn 12$1.1M

Financial Metrics

Form 990 · FY2023 · each ratio shown with the dollars behind it
Liquidity & Payout
Operating runway
Highly liquid reserves $548K · Operating expenses/yr $1.1M
6.0 months
Where the money goes
Program services
Program services $1.0M · Total expenses $1.1M
95%
Management & General
Management & general $48K · Total expenses $1.1M
4%
Fundraising
Fundraising $5K · Total expenses $1.1M
0.5%
Cost to raise $1
Fundraising expense (3-yr avg) $2K · Solicited contributions (3-yr avg) $668K
$0.00 to raise $1 (3-yr avg)
Where the money comes from
Contribution dependence
Contributions & grants $1.1M · Total revenue $1.1M
91%
Government reliance
Government grants $30K · Total revenue $1.1M
3%
Earned-income share
Program service revenue $0 · Total revenue $1.1M
0%
Investment reliance
Investment income $3K · Total revenue $1.1M
+0.3%
Program self-sufficiency
Program service revenue $0 · Total expenses $1.1M
0%
Growth & trend
Revenue growth (YoY)
This year $1.1M · Prior year $710K
+62%
Net-asset trend (YoY)
End of year $533K · Beginning of year —
Beginning net assets not meaningfully positive — showing dollar change
Balance sheet
Surplus Margin
Revenue $1.1M · Expenses $1.1M
+5%
Liabilities-to-Assets
Total liabilities — · Total assets $548K
—
Net-asset ratio
Net assets $533K · Total assets $548K
97%
Marketable Investment Share
Publicly traded securities (Pt X, ln 11) — · Other securities (Pt X, ln 12) — · Total assets (Pt X, ln 16) $548K
Excludes program-related investments (Pt X, ln 13)
People & payroll
Highest Reported Total Compensation
Individual Helen Cherullo · Reported title EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR · Highest reported compensation $124K · Total expenses $1.1M
11%
Personnel share
Salaries, benefits & payroll (Pt IX 5-10) $247K · Total expenses $1.1M
23%
Peer comparison

Same NTEE category, revenue band, and state where available. Descriptive — not a grade.

MetricThis orgPeer medianPercentile
Program ratio 95%——
Overhead ratio 4%——
Fundraising cost ratio 0.5%——
Revenue growth 62%——
Investment management fee ratio 0.7%——
Accounting fee ratio 0.2%——
Fundraising fee ratio 0.4%——

Straight from the Form 990 — descriptive, not an evaluation. A ratio is hidden when its base is zero or too small to be meaningful; the dollars are always shown.

Leadership and pay

Officers, Directors & Key Employees

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2022); the FY2023 filing did not itemize Part VII
Executive Director
$124,261Pt VII · Sec A
Secretary
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
President
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Helen Cherullo’s $124K as Executive Director is at the 91st percentile of top reported officer pay among 1990 $100K–1M 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 · 1 named individual · Part VII

NameFY2023FY2022
Helen Cherullo$124,261$122,338

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.

See Braided River executive salaries →

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Governance & Policies

Part VI
Voting members of the governing bodyPt VI · Ln 1a7
Independent voting membersPt VI · Ln 1b7
Conflict-of-interest policyPt VI · Ln 12aYes
Whistleblower policyPt VI · Ln 13Yes
Document retention policyPt VI · Ln 14Yes
CEO/top-official compensation independently reviewedPt VI · Ln 15aNo
Family or business relationships among officers/directorsPt VI · Ln 2No

Mission and programs

Protects orcas, develops films, and educates about the Arctic Refuge's importance.

Provided by the organization

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Mission & Programs · Part III

Where the work happens

3 program services account for $859K of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2022.
01

Freedom to Roam

California project - funds for this project have gone towards the long-term development of the blue-chip nature documentary "freedom to roam" (working title). Based on braided river book with florian schulz, the wild edge and other freedom to roam assets, this film project is created in collaboration with allen preger and the margot…

$654Kprogram expense
02

Living River

This book and visual campaign released in april 2023 has been educating about the imperiled colorado river watershed. To date, the author dave showalter has presented at 19 in-person and digital events as a part of the living river events series, reaching a total of 4105 people in person in colorado, arizona, nevada, utah, wyoming, and…

$106Kprogram expense
03

America's Arctic

Braided river is a media partner alongside a coalition of national conservation and indigenous nonprofits supporting science and cultural education around the alaskan arctic. We are supporting the impact campaign for an educational giant screen film called the arctic: our last great wilderness, which has been many years in the making.

$99Kprogram expense

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Funders

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2025
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$10K

Filing history

YearRevenueExpensesChangeFiling
FY2024 $457K$484K-60% 990 PDF
FY2023 Viewing $1.1M$1.1M+62% 990 PDF
FY2022 $710K$313K+158% 990 PDF
FY2021 $275K$260K+16% 990 PDF
FY2020 $237K$225K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash

Not shown yet: ratings, outcomes, and peer benchmarks. A Form 990 doesn’t report them.

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Sources

Every figure above is drawn from these filings
Form 990 e-file (XML) · FY2023IRS
Classification, formation year, addressIRS Business Master File
Names, privacy, and removal requests More

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