PLATINUM2023

Osprey Wilds Environmental Learning Center

Experience Your Environment

Sandstone, MN   |  https://ospreywilds.org/

Mission

Mission: To instill a connection and commitment to the environment in people of all communities through experiential learning.

VIsion: A Healthy Planet Where All People Live In Balance With The Earth

Geographic Focus: East-Central MN, Twin Cities Area, Duluth, MN, St. Cloud, MN, and West-Central Wisconsin

Ruling year info

1970

Executive Director

Mr. Bryan Wood

Main address

PO Box 530 54165 Audubon Drive

Sandstone, MN 55072 USA

Show more contact info

Formerly known as

Northwoods Audubon Center

Audubon Center of the North Woods

EIN

23-7044164

NTEE code info

Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs (C60)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2022, 2021 and 2020.
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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

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Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

K-12, Youth, Post-Secondary, Family, Adult, and Community Programs, Charter School Authorization

Osprey Wilds Environmental Learning Center is a nonprofit 501c3 public charity and residential environmental learning center for all learners. As an accredited school, we offer programs for k-12 and college students, as well as youth, family, adult, senior and community programs. Our programs focus on environmental sciences, outdoor recreation, team-building, energy, , agriculture, wildlife and local cultural history. We are also Minnesota's largest charter school authorizer, with 40 schools each emphasizing environmental education. All told, we reach nearly 20,000 individuals annually through our educational programs.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Adults

Where we work

Awards

Regional Excellence 2007

North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE)

Affiliations & memberships

ANCA 2022

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of paid participants on field trips

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

K-12, Youth, Post-Secondary, Family, Adult, and Community Programs, Charter School Authorization

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Area of land, in hectares, indirectly controlled by the organization

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Area of land, in hectares, indirectly controlled by the organization and under sustainable cultivation or sustainable stewardship

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Context - describing the issue we work on

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Area of land, in hectares, directly controlled by the organization

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Number of students enrolled

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

K-12, Youth, Post-Secondary, Family, Adult, and Community Programs, Charter School Authorization

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

K-12 students enrolled in our authorized Minnesota public charter schools

Number of acres of land protected

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Input - describing resources we use

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Total dollar amount of scholarship awarded

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

K-12, Youth, Post-Secondary, Family, Adult, and Community Programs, Charter School Authorization

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Acres of land managed

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Our Organization's current goals of our Strategic Plan are:

1. Expanding our Client Base Regionally and Statewide
2. Building Organizational Capacity
3. Foster Care and Appreciation for the Earth in All People
4. Model Sustainability Leadership

1.1 Increase Contact, Impact and Reach with K-12 Schools
1.2 Expand Efforts to Reach Broader Regional Markets

2.1 Strengthen Development Program to Ensure Financial Sustainability
2.2 Improve Systems and Accountability for Improved Visitor Experience
2.3 Support and Engage Staff
2.4 Diversify and Increase Available Human Resources

3.1 Create & Implement a Place-Based Interdisciplinary Experience for All Communities
3.2 Encourage Reflection of Mission in Participants
3.3 Strengthen our Portfolio of High Performing Environmentally-Focused Charter Schools

4.1 Reduce Carbon Footprint
4. 2 Encourage On-Site and Long- Term Behavior Changes in Visitors
4.3 Fully Embrace Food as a Mission-Based Program

Through a thorough staff-driven process, we came upon our strategic plan and have organizational buy-in. Our departments regularly meet and look at how their teams are doing, and develop strategies for addressing the benchmarks within the plan. We have quarterly staff meetings where we review the strategic plan, and look at what to address next.

Our current strategic plan began July 1, 2015, so many areas have yet to be accomplished. However, the following have already been achieved:

• Visit all new K-12 schools and lead teachers pre- trip to meet with teachers / chaperones / students / parents
• Offer Educator Workshops
• Increase in-person donor touches through house and park parties, dinners, events and private meetings
• Increase lead-time and decrease steps for required K-12 paperwork
• Ensure all current and proposed programs are fully scoped and analyzed, with interdepartmental input, prior to commitment or implementation
• Expand usage and effectiveness of ACNW database
• Emphasize quality over quantity in program offerings
• Offer Master Naturalist course for all 2015-16 Naturalists
• Offer more non-formal program selections (stewardship, exploration, journaling)
• Simplify and strengthen K-12 menu of class options
• Build Nature Playscape to encourage free, nature-based play
• Fully comply with and participate in the MN Authorizer Performance Evaluation System (MAPES) process in order to achieve the highest rating possible for our organization
• Empower staff to proactively clean, repair, update, maintain, report and recommend changes to the ACNW operations and facilities to reduce our environmental impact
• Create more visibility of recycling and other methods to reduce a visitor's impact while visiting the Center
• Replace purchases of ready-make food items by increasing in-house production (i.e., pizza dough, bread, desserts, sauces, dressings, etc.)

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently

Financials

Osprey Wilds Environmental Learning Center
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Osprey Wilds Environmental Learning Center

Board of directors
as of 09/22/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Steven McNeill

LHB

Term: 2023 - 2024

Steve McNeill

LHB Architecture

Lois Norrgard

Alaska Wilderness League

Don Verbick

Delve Energy Group

Don Arnosti

Land Stewardship Project

Debra Curran

Health Partners

Heidi Bringman

LHB Architecture

Richard Newmark

3M

Donald Janes

3M

Christopher Crutchfield

Ujamaa Place

Kevin McCalib

Retired Educator

Bill Owens

Securian Financial

Tammy Fleming

Wells Fargo

Barbara Lindeke

Retired Educator

Samba Fall

MultiCultural Kids Network

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 9/21/2023
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Male, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 09/21/2023

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.