Knox Forest School
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
The mission of Knox Forest School is to connect young people especially and adults to nature based curriculum in order to deepen and foster a connection with healthy individual and community care and growth. We do this through offering nature based curiosity led classes and events throughout the year.
- Income
- $284,687
- Spending
- $299,066
- Spent on programs
- 100%
- Reserves
- 0.2 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 99%
- Employees
- 11
- Volunteers
- 0
- Highest pay
- $55,720, director and board president
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Fair: 58 out of 100. Higher than 24% of charities in its peer group (education, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
4 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 0.2 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
4 of 15Spending exceeded income by 5% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 15% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 15100% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 91 out of 100. Higher than 81% of charities in its peer group (education, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 253 of 5 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
6 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $267,413 spent. Our primary goal in our 8th year is to pay our teachers a fair wage and to offer them training. This is to make sure we have excellent staff members to teach the children. We have a total of 11 staff members. We have inservice days where we train our staff in naturalist skills and up to date research based educational models for outdoor nature based education.
- $21,184 spent. Our second goal was to make sure our school campus and grounds were well taken care of. This included rent maintenance and care for outdoor pavilions and our school house. It also included care for our large garden. We also maintain trails on our campus and respond to any weather based clean up needs on the trails. As well as graveling muddy areas. In addition we ran a "clean up our creek" work project in order to maintain the health of our outdoor space.
- $10,469 spent. Our third goal was to make sure the students at our outdoor program received excellent teaching. This includes materials and supplies designed to give them a top notch experience. Books art and craft supplies are included in this. We also continued to run after school and community wide events for families and friends of the school in order to build a strong and good community of learning among our families and people in our community.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Worth knowing.
Status was revoked on May 15, 2020 for not filing returns for three years. The IRS now lists it as tax-exempt again.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since March 2021.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.