Cardinal Land Conservancy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 311673211
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2016, Form 990-N 2015
- Location
- Loveland, OH, US
- Phone
- 513-752-2828
- Rating
- 69
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Land Resources Conservation
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,048,900
- Expenses
- $1,187,886
- Assets
- $25,813,160
- Liabilities
- $152,956
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- BILL HOPPLE (President)
- SUSANNE KIBLER-HACKER (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- ANDY DICKERSON (Executive Dir.): $74,360 total reported compensation
- PAT HORNSCHEMEIER (BOARD MEMBER): $4,500 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Cardinal Land Conservancy’s mission is to preserve natural habitats, waterways, agricultural lands and open space we love in our tri-state region.
What it reported doing in 2025
Land stewardship: we are responsible to protect conservation values and to be a good neighbor and community member for all our properties. We evaluate every property for its conservation value, the threats to these values, and for opportunities to enhance conservation values through responsible management. A formal stewardship plan is developed and implemented based on this analysis to include annual monitoring and assessment as part of an adaptive management framework. Some conservation properties include restoration work to replace lost functions and to increase the conservation value of the property. Our volunteers are a vital and growing resource for our stewardship program with individuals and groups of all ages participating in planning and providing service. Stewarding conserved lands. A stewardship funding strategy, including gift donations during the acquisition process, is an integral part of every new conservation project. Stewardship funds are used to provide for future expenses of restoration, monitoring, enforcing compliance with easement restrictions, and underwriting legal defense of conservation protections for all our properties. We insure the conservation defense of our properties with terrafirma, a land trust risk sharing pool.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 67% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 30
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 89
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 10.2%; rating input score 10
- Program expense ratio: 52.4%; rating input score 52
- Fundraising efficiency: $26.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 80.4%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 21.73; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.6%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 23.1% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 21.1% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 21.2% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 3 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 10.2% of revenue deployed · 52.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $622K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 18 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2010 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 10/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 52/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.