Conservation Lands Foundation
Overview
Mission
Protect and expand America's National Conservation Lands – 38 million acres (and growing!) of public lands, rivers, and trails.
What it reported doing in 2025
Policy and Legal/Conservation Campaigns: The Foundation leads a national movement of community-based advocates to care for America's National Conservation Lands of environmental, cultural and recreational significance. To achieve this, we are building place-based, local proposals to identify places that are worthy of durable and lasting protections now and for future generations. Our work ensures that the voices of conservationists, business owners, sportsmen, Native Americans and others from these local communities are respected and reflected in conservation management policies. This program builds and conveys grassroots and national support for lands deserving of National Conservation Lands designation and improved management policies. CLF also works with our partners to promote and defend the Antiquities Act and other policies vital to caring for America's National Conservation Lands.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 63% for direct work, and 37% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 208924520
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Headquarters
- Durango, CO, USA
- Phone
- (970) 247-0807
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Land Resources Conservation
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 71%; rating input score 71
- Program expense ratio: 78.7%; rating input score 79
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 94.8%; rating input score 95; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 10.7%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.24; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 16.2%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 71% of revenue deployed · 78.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $7.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $260K · 25 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $107K reported
- Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 62 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 54 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Leadership & pay
25 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Christine Hill (Executive Director): $260,330 total reported compensation
- Jocelyn Torres (Chief Conservation Officer): $173,761 total reported compensation
- Julie Thibodeau (Chief Finance/Oper Officer): $172,999 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2025.