Bangor Land Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
330997433
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Bangor, ME, USA
Phone
2079421010
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Land Resources Conservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$124,492
Expenses
$164,794
Assets
$1,344,217
Liabilities
$899

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LUCIE ESTABROOK (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEPHANIE LINDSELL (EXECUTIVE DI): $66,589 total reported compensation
  • ROBERT OSTROWSKI (EXECUTIVE DI): $5,562 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Protect for public benefit land and water in the bangor region that have special ecological, natural, scenic, agricultural, or recreational significance; increase public understanding of the value of land and water conservation.

What it reported doing in 2025

Education and outreach: held 10 programs on bangor land trust properties plus 5 indoor programs on a variety of nature-based topics, including our annual meeting. A story walk that told a story for children was in place all summer on one of our trails. Programs at preserves included a halloween-themed walk in collaboration with the Maine discovery museum that attracted a crowd estimated at 250 to 300 adults and children. In addition, bangor land trust staffed tables where we handed out maps and brochures and answered questions from interested participants at 3 venues. We also published two newsletters for our members and maintained an active presence on social media and on the bangor land trust website. We continued our outreach to landowners around the marsh, aimed at providing them with an understanding of the importance of wetlands and of beavers that help to maintain wetlands.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 83.3%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -32.4%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.16; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 43.8%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 83.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $137K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $67K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.