30 Mile River Watershed Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
261526329
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2009
Location
Mount Vernon, ME, USA
Phone
2078604043
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$408,868
Expenses
$339,634
Assets
$568,198
Liabilities
$35,627

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lidie Robbins (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lidie Robbins (Executive Director): $100,722 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the 30 Mile River Watershed Association (30 Mile) is to work as a community for clean and healthy lakes, ponds and streams in our watershed. Since 2008, 30 Mile has led efforts to protect these waters from the growing threats of invasive species, development, and climate change.30 Mile partners with local lake associations and towns to protect over 20 lakes and ponds, implementing a wide variety of programs and initiatives that could not be done by a single group alone. 30 Mile also partners with lake organizations around the state to advocate for statewide environmental protections and support. Our lakes and ponds are public treasures that provide valuable economic, recreational, social, and emotional value to residents and visitors. Now, more than ever, these fragile places are facing their greatest threats from invasive species, watershed development, and climate change.

What it reported doing in 2024

Land Use Management: To protect water quality in the watershed's lakes, ponds and streams, 30 Mile implements a variety of programs and projects. Providing technical support, guidance, and education for towns, landowners and road associations to promote lake protection is a key goal. In 2024, we began a two-year project on Androscoggin Lake, funded in part through a $150K grant by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, and administered by Maine DEP in partnership with EPA. In 2024, we were awarded a $64K grant for Parker Pond through the same grant program. These grants fund projects to help communities restore and protect priority waters (continues on schedule O) by reducing erosion and polluted runoff. Through this work, we are able to bring significant funding and technical expertise to towns, road associations and landowners to take on important lake-protection projects that otherwise wouldn't be possible. Further supporting this goal, 30 Mile wrote two successful grant proposals for the Town of Vienna to address key road crossings that have repeatedly suffered from severe washouts and road failures, and that significantly threaten water quality in downstream lakes and ponds. A grant of $50K from the Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Fund will be used to hire an engineer to complete the scoping, design, and permitting to upgrade three stream crossings on town roads. The second grant was Vienna's first Climate Action Grant through Maine's Community Resilience Partnership. This $50K grant will fund an engineered design at a fourth high-priority culvert crossing, along with the project management, grant writing, and cash match needed to apply for grants to support the construction of these costly culvert upgrades. A core part of 30 Mile's work is assisting landowners by recommending lake-friendly practices to reduce harmful erosion. 30 Mile is a regional LakeSmart "hub," providing technical support for this statewide program that educates lakefront homeowners to help them manage their properties in ways that protect water quality. Our watershed's five volunteer lake teams and our staff conduct free site visits for landowners. In 2024, together we completed property evaluations for eleven landowners and delivered LakeSmart education throughout the watershed to help build a conservation ethic across the lake community. In 2024, we also launched a new initiative to improve shoreline buffers, planting over 300 live stakes on shorefront properties infested with an invasive species, then turned green with an algal bloom, and a second became infested with another invasive, threatening all lakes and ponds downstream. To respond to the growing need, 30 Mile has embarked on an exciting new project, creating a new center for lake protection. This integrated facility will provide essential space for public education, a water quality laboratory, and our growing staff. Phase I was nearly completed in 2024.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 88% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.1%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 72.2%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.9%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.67; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 29.7%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 28.4% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.1% of revenue deployed · 72.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $245K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $101K · 18 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.