Athens Land Trust Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
582154133
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Athens, GA, USA
Phone
7066130122
Rating
92
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Land Resources Conservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,636,037
Expenses
$3,721,300
Assets
$9,773,011
Liabilities
$793,239

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARAH YATES SUTHERLAND (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • HEATHER BENHAM (FORMER EXECU): $110,840 total reported compensation
  • VANNA CURE (INTERIM EXEC): $55,944 total reported compensation
  • DEMETRIUS JORDAN (EXECUTIVE DI): $2,781 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 athens land trust (alt) is both a conservation and community land trust, protecting and stewarding land for environmental, economic, and affordable housing purposes. Alt provides education opportunities for first-time homebuyers, youth through paid job training opportunities, and neighborhood residents through advisory board trainings. Alt supports new and beginning farmers through incubation, workshops, classes, and access to farmland.

What it reported doing in 2024

Other community and conservation program: this program strives to support healthy, vibrant communities by protecting farmland and other natural resources, developing a sustainable local food system, strengthening the local economy at the neighborhood level, and building knowledge of local food issues and the benefits of eating fresh, local produce. Alt also offers the young urban farmers (yuf) program and young conservation stewards (ycs) program that provide job skills training and education centered around sustainable agriculture, entrepreneurship and conservation practices to youth in athens-clarke county. Conservation easements - athens land trust permanently protects greenspace by accepting, monitoring, and enforcing permanent conservation easements that protect the land's conservation values.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.1%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 92.1%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $113.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 19.7%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.63; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.1% of revenue deployed · 92.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $111K · 14 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $124K reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 57/100.