Aspen Valley Land Trust
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 840574754
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Jun 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Carbondale, CO, United States
- Phone
- 970.963.8440
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Environmental Beautification and Aesthetics
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,744,689
- Expenses
- $1,791,433
- Assets
- $17,955,515
- Liabilities
- $1,501,360
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RICHARD SHAW (PRESIDENT)
- CYNTHIA JACOBSON (VICE PRESIDENT)
- SUZANNE STEPHENS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- SUZANNE STEPHENS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $144,550 total reported compensation
- ERIN QUINN (EMPLOYEE): $123,404 total reported compensation
- MELISSA SUMERA (EMPLOYEE): $119,588 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
| Aspen Valley Land Trust protects the open land and special places of the Roaring Fork and middle Colorado River valleys for wildlife, agriculture, and community, forever. |. Conservation is a commitment to the future of our open lands and the lives that depend on them. We pledge to uphold our conservation commitments in perpetuity and to build a trusted, effective organization to steward them. We strive for organizational and professional excellence in all that we do, and pledge to maintain our national accreditation by adhering to the best management practices advanced by the Land Trust Alliance. COMMUNITY We believe that conservation is community building, and should seek to support more inclusive, healthy communities. We believe in collaborating with, learning from, and serving the diverse communities across our region, because everyone has the right to enjoy.
What it reported doing in 2024
Land and water conservation. Aspen valley land trust has protected 46,319 acres since 1967 including key wildlife habitat, family farms and ranches, scenic open lands, and over 104 miles of land along rivers and streams in the roaring fork and middle Colorado river valleys. Avlt also owns or protects 10 public parks, 33 miles of public trails, and three properties used for outdoor education that connect community to conserved lands across western Colorado. In 2022, avlt began implementing the goals of its strategic conservation plan: to double the amount of conserved land in our region by 2032. Avlt renewed accreditation by the national land trust accreditation commission and certification by the state of Colorado to hold conservation easements for which tax credits are claimed.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 80% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 43
- Transparency & Controls: 88
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 79
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 33%; rating input score 33
- Program expense ratio: 61.3%; rating input score 61
- Fundraising efficiency: $10.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 25th 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- 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: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 52.2%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.02; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 21.6%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 33% of revenue deployed · 61.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $145K · 17 people listed
- Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 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: Mission deployment rate scored 33/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.