Bur Oak Land Trust
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 421104058
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Iowa City, IA, USA
- Phone
- 3193387030
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $791,175
- Expenses
- $838,144
- Assets
- $4,039,690
- Liabilities
- $153,136
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOHN VAN RYBROEK (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JASON TAYLOR (EXECUTIVE DI): $76,262 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Advancing biodiversity in eastern Iowa by protecting resilient landscapes and connecting people to nature.
What it reported doing in 2025
Land conservation and management: property management plans for fee-owned properties include identification of native and non-native species found on the properties, control of invasive species, and unique management requirements necessary for the protection of endangered, threatened, and species of special concern. Reduction of invasive species will allow for the reestablishment of a more resilient native ecosystem. In 2025, approximately 15,000 hours of active land management occurred on the trust's fee-owned properties, with a focus on habitat restoration and improvement. Management techniques and activities included prescribed fire, timber stand improvement and canopy reduction, mechanical removal of invasive species, native seed harvesting and seed spreading, and native shrub and tree planting.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 65% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 43
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 77.3%; rating input score 77
- Program expense ratio: 72.3%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd 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: 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: 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: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -5.9%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.82; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 9.1%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 16.7% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 77.3% of revenue deployed · 72.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $606K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $76K · 17 people listed
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 18/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.