To connect people to nature & advance biodiversity science & conservation

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
72¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 1,200,000 volunteers and 9 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2024 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
2 of 2
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $2.9M a year · 57% of revenue · last 2 filings
Looks good: a surplus in 2 of the last 2 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 2 filings
Spent on programs
72%
of spending
Fine: 72% of spending went to programs; 65% to 75%.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$1.3M
to officers and key staff · 41% of spending
Concern: pay to officers and key staff is 41% of spending; over 30%.
Pt VII · Sec A
23 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 22.7 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $1K
Fine: 1 funder names it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$105K
2% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 2% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
7
of 8 voting members
Looks good: 7 of 8 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$4.7M
-15% vs prior year
Spent
$3.1M
To programs
72%
Net assets
$5.8M
By yearFY2023–FY2024
Revenue
$4.7M
FY2024▼ -15%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2023$5.6M
FY2024$4.7M
Expenses
$3.1M
FY2024▲ +121%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2023$1.4M
FY2024$3.1M
Net assets
$5.8M
FY2024▲ +40%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2023$4.2M
FY2024$5.8M

From the FY2024 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Feb 2023.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

72 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 72% · $2.2M Management & general 13% · $394K Fundraising 15% · $453K

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

16 people listed on the 990; $1.3M paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Executive Dir., Secretary
$191,198Pt VII · Sec A
Senior Staff Software and Devops Engineer
$188,054Pt VII · Sec A
Head of Engagement
$181,857Pt VII · Sec A
Co-Founder, Staff Software Engineer
$174,605Pt VII · Sec A
Staff Machine Learning & Software Engineer
$160,054Pt VII · Sec A
Staff Software Engineer
$143,463Pt VII · Sec A
Staff Ui/Ux Designer
$133,772Pt VII · Sec A
Head of Administration, CFO
$79,352Pt VII · Sec A

Scott Loarie’s $191K as Executive Dir., Secretary is at the 82nd 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

NameFY2024FY2023
Scott Loarie$191,198$77,914
Patrick Leary$188,054—
Carrie Seltzer$181,857$69,984
Ken-Ichi Ueda$174,605$80,240
Alex Shepard$160,054—
Amanda Bullington$143,463—
Abhas Misraraj$133,772—
Jason Walthall$79,352—

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

Connects people to nature, advancing biodiversity science and conservation efforts.

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Provided by the organization

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1 program · $2.2M · in their own filed words · FY2024
01

Inaturalist demonstrated impacts in three key areas that align with its mission: people, science, and conservation. The core of how inaturalist fulfills its mission by building and supporting scalable technology that allows people around the world to make and share observations of biodiversity using free mobile apps and WEBSITES.IN 2024…

$2.2Mprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

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$1K

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$4.7M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$4.4M
Investment incomeLn 3$173K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$101K
Money outPt IX
$3.1M
Ln 25
Programscol B$2.2M
Managementcol C$394K
Fundraisingcol D$453K
Owns and owesPt X
$5.8M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$5.8M
Total assetsLn 16$5.9M
LiabilitiesLn 26$105K
PeoplePt VI, VII
16
listed · VII A
PaidVII A8
Voting boardVI 1a8
IndependentVI 1b7
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$4.4M
Fees for servicesLn 2g$101K
Investment incomeLn 3$173K
Other incomeLn 4–11$540
Total revenueLn 12$4.7M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$317K
SavingsLn 2$5.4M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$5.8M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$22K
Total assetsLn 16$5.9M
LiabilitiesLn 26$105K
Net assetsLn 32$5.8M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 59
VolunteersI 61,200,000
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$4.3M$5.8M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$25K$22K
Total assetsLn 16$4.3M$5.9M
LiabilitiesLn 26$161K$105K
Net assetsLn 32$4.2M$5.8M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$505K$124K$254K$127K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$1.4M$1.1M$12K$206K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$58K$54K$715$3K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$86K$69K$17K
Payroll taxesLn 10$129K$91K$15K$23K
Legal feesLn 11b$898$898
Accounting feesLn 11c$49K$49K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$428K$417K$6K$5K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$5K$5K$67$16
Office expensesLn 13$58K$278$10K$48K
Information technologyLn 14$295K$269K$4K$22K
OccupancyLn 16$9K$5K$5K
TravelLn 17$46K$29K$16K$566
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$8K$5K$2K$2K
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$4K$4K
InsuranceLn 23$13K$13K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$7K$7K
Total functional expensesLn 25$3.1M$2.2M$394K$453K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 Latest Viewing $4.7M$3.1M$1.7M$5.8M 990 PDF
FY2023 $5.6M$1.4M$4.2M$4.2M 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support J · Pay O · Explanations
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $4,711,360 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $4,987,614$4,436,376
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $158$100,974
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $56,572$173,470
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $506,704$540
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $5,551,048$4,711,360
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $0$0
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $795,757$2,129,224
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $588,021$922,353
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $1,383,778$3,051,577
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $4,167,270$1,659,783
Part VI · Governance 7 of 8 board members independent, no flags
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body8
VI-1b Independent voting members7
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $4,711,360 across 7 lines filed
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$4,436,376
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$4,436,376
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $100,974$100,974
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $173,470$173,470
VIII-5 RoyaltiesExcluded from tax $6,788$6,788
VIII-11a-d Other revenue, itemized rows (sum of 11a–11d as filed)Excluded from tax −$6,248−$6,248
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $100,974 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $174,010$4,711,360
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $3,051,577 across 17 lines filed
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $124,350 · Management $254,115 · Fundraising $126,959$505,424
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $1,132,241 · Management $12,288 · Fundraising $206,226$1,350,755
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $53,600 · Management $715 · Fundraising $3,408$57,723
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $69,276 · Fundraising $16,759$86,035
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $91,156 · Management $14,741 · Fundraising $23,390$129,287
IX-11b Legal feesManagement $898$898
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $48,825$48,825
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $417,419 · Management $5,641 · Fundraising $5,012$428,072
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $4,777 · Management $67 · Fundraising $16$4,860
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $278 · Management $10,414 · Fundraising $47,583$58,275
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $269,341 · Management $4,413 · Fundraising $21,672$295,426
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $4,650 · Management $4,790$9,440
IX-17 TravelPrograms $28,995 · Management $16,159 · Fundraising $566$45,720
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $4,501 · Management $1,602 · Fundraising $1,500$7,603
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $3,598$3,598
IX-23 InsuranceManagement $12,578$12,578
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Management $7,058$7,058
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $2,204,182 · Management $394,304 · Fundraising $453,091$3,051,577
Part X · Balance sheet $5,932,237 assets, 13 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $1,232,658$317,257
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $3,056,743$5,443,612
X-3 Pledges and grants receivable$131,652
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $489$772
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $12,780$17,425
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $25,117$21,519
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $4,327,787$5,932,237
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $160,517$105,184
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $160,517$105,184
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $3,291,072$4,786,435
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $876,198$1,040,618
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $4,167,270$5,827,053
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $4,327,787$5,932,237
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $5,827,053 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$4,711,360
XI-2 Total expenses$3,051,577
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$1,659,783
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$4,167,270
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$5,827,053

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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