Columbia Land Conservancy Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Land protection activities: clc employs a three-pronged programmatic approach to its land protection mission. Conservation easements: clc helps families and individuals protect privately owned land with high conservation value by creating, accepting, and stewarding conservation easements, ensuring the owner's conservation vision will be upheld forever. Clc currently has 268 landowner relationships under this program. Support of land use planning & community projects: working with municipalities, communities and conservation groups, clc encourages land use planning practices and procedures that support protection of the county's rich conservation resources and helps to implement local conservation efforts, including fundraising, acquisition, site planning, and the like for creation of public open spaces, training of local officials and volunteers and stewardship of land for habitat, recreation, and education. In 2024, clc's outreach efforts served approximately 507 individuals. Support for agriculture: clc believes that a strong and vibrant farm sector is, among other things, an important conservation asset to this area, where centuries of farming have left an incredible mark on the county's lands, conservation resources, and scenic attributes. Clc works to find ways to support an active and resurgent agricultural community, including the development and implementation of innovative strategies including conservation measures and other programs to help new farmers and farmers who want to expand their operation access farmland that might otherwise be unaccessible to them. This program served 541 people in 2024.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 71%; rating input score 71
• Program expense ratio: 83.4%; rating input score 83
• Fundraising efficiency: $14.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 14.5%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.3; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 7.5%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 8.8% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings