Ballona Wetland Land Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954542207
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Playa Del Rey, CA, USA
Phone
3108493741
Rating
92
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$50,855
Expenses
$59,465
Assets
$111,532

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WALTER LAMB (President)

People named in this filing

  • WALTER LAMB (President)
  • STEPHANIE BECKMAN (Secretary)
  • NATALIE CARRERE (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Raise public awareness of wetlands issues, use, and preservation. Encourage ecologically sensitive access to the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve and a transparent restoration planning process. Pursue legal avenues when the law has not been followed or enforced.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025 the land trust began continued habitat stewardship in coordination with the California department of fish and wildlife in order to expand native vegetation such as frankenia salina (alkali heath)in area "a" of the ballona wetlands ecological reserve. The land turst also continued its student field trip program. The land trust was represented at dozens of publicc meetings, including the los angeles regional water quality control board, California coastal dcommission, California fish and gam commission, santa monica bay restoration commission and other agencies and entities. The land trust had one outstanding lawsuit in 2025 that remains ongoing. The land trust conducted public outreach events, including a booth at la fiesta la ballona in culver city. In 2025, the land trust also began publishing "species of the week" accounts of various plant and animal apecies that can be observed at the wetlands.

Operating model

Revenue model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent revenue detail to tell how this nonprofit funds its work.
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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 96
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 90.4%; rating input score 90

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -16.9%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.88; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.3% per year; rating input score 0; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 90.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $54K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 6 of 6 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.