Carter County Geological Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
816012684
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Ekalaka, MT, USA
Phone
4067756886
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$448,718
Expenses
$137,248
Assets
$1,109,333
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LLANE CARROLL (PRESIDENT/CHAIR)

People named in this filing

  • LLANE CARROLL (PRESIDENT/CHAIR)
  • BRANSON ROGERS (VICE CHAIR)
  • MARLENE WATERLAND (SECRETARY/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. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To increase and diffuse knowledge and appreciation of history, art and science; to discover, excavate and preserve fossils, fossil bones, and human artifacts; to advance the science of archaeology and paleontology; to collect and preserve objects of historic, artistic, and scientific interest; and to acquire and maintain a library to assist in the above purpose.

What it reported doing in 2024

Outreach program services in 2024 include both virtual and in-person services. Participation by the museum director included involvement in the museum association of Montana, visit southeast Montana, the Montana governor's tourism advisory council, the mt chapter of the international dark sky association, and national association for interpretation. The museum director and curator visited kumamoto, japan and signed a sister museum agreement with the amakusa museum of goshoura dinosaur island in march, giving lectures that resulted in outreach to 669 people throughout the country. Carter county museum hosted the Montana dinosaur trail and visit southeast Montana meetings and the curator attended the association of materials & methods in paleontology conference in manitoba, canada. The museum also participated in the miles city gem & mineral show. We finished the carter county talking trail project, incurring $1,200 in expenses through grant funds and continued work on the veteran's memorial park ($33,561 in income and $33,560) in expenses. A total of 63,802 people were served through in-person and virtual outreach programming in 2024.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 88
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 34.7%; rating input score 35
  • Program expense ratio: 92.6%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5,778.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 100; 100th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 69.4%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.08; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.8% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 42.1% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 34.7% of revenue deployed · 92.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $127K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.