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Golden Willow Retreat Inc

EIN 85-0483737 · Arroyo Hondo, NM

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthGood82 out of 100GovernanceGood89 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

Golden Willow Retreat is a non-profit organization that promotes healthy grieving by empowering people impacted by all forms of loss through theraputic programming and professional development.

Income
$343,082
Spending
$384,559
Spent on programs
52%
Reserves
16.9 months of spending
Largest source of income
donations and private grants, 69%
Employees
4
Volunteers
1

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

Good: 82 out of 100. Higher than 67% of charities in its peer group (mental health, $250k to $1m).

  • Reserves

    35 of 35

    Spendable reserves would cover 16.9 months of spending.

  • Debt

    20 of 20

    It owes 0% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    4 of 15

    Spending exceeded income by 12% of income.

  • Income trend

    15 of 15

    Income rose 2% on the year before.

  • Spending floor

    8 of 15

    52% 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

Good: 89 out of 100. Higher than 77% of charities in its peer group (mental health, $250k to $1m).

  • Independent board

    18 of 25

    4 of 4 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    8 of 8

    Has a written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    7 of 7

    Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    10 of 10

    Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • Independent check of accounts

    12 of 15

    Its accounts were reviewed or compiled by an independent accountant, but not audited.

  • No reported misuse

    10 of 10

    Reports 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 (1)
  1. $200,603 spent. Golden Willow Retreat remained dedicated to supporting healthy grieving in 2024 through a variety of services, including free online grief support groups, a free in-person support group in Taos, weekend workshops, and grief-intensive retreats. We estimate that there were about 5,000 people that attended the grief support meetings in 2024. We held four weekend workshops at Golden Willow Retreat in 2024: Loss of Partner, Loss of Child, Alumni Renewal, and Healing From Loss where a total of 48 people attended. We held our Annual Butterfly Fundraiser on Saturday, July 26th and had about 50 people in attendance. Our grief intensive retreats continued in 2024 and we had 142 nights with people staying at Golden Willow Retreat. Golden Willow Retreat was active in the community: we hosted 4 quarterly provider breakfasts in 2024, bringing together providers and nonprofit organizations from across Northern New Mexico to share resources, strengthen connections, and highlight the important work being done in our community. Here are some of the organizations we collaborated with in 2024: Taos municipal schools, LOR Foundation, Taos Community Foundation, Taos Police (Pueblo, Sheriff, and Town), Taos Ski Valley Inc. and Taos Ski Valley Village, county commissioners, city counselors, Rio Grande Alcohol Treatment services, Red Willow Hospice, Taos Behavioral Health, Teambuilders Behavioral Health, Taos Pueblo, Taos County Courts, Arroyo Hondo Atalaya Acequias, Rivera Family Funeral Services, DeVargas Funeral Home of Taos, Taos Country Club, Quail Ridge Inn and Taos Tennis, UNM Taos, NM Highlands, Taos News, KNCE, KTAO, CAV, Southwestern College, Taos Hospital, and Taos Whole Community Health. Golden Willow Retreat provided weekly Taos News articles, was on the KNCE radio show once a month, promoted behavioral health and education services within our community, offered the grief book Witnessing Ted, provided scholarships for weekend workshops and personalized grief intensive retreats, provided critical incident stress management (CISM) for organizations and businesses after a traumatic event, provided CEUs for mental health workers on the subject of Grief and Trauma, published professional articles on Grief and Loss, and lead/partcipated in community events such as vigils, suicide prevention, and addiction outreach/education.

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

  1. 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.

  2. Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.

    Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.

    Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since April 2002.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  6. 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 November 4, 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.