Cedar Lakes Conservation Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391284451
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
West Bend, WI, USA
Phone
2623534866
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,423,665
Expenses
$1,729,201
Assets
$34,485,020
Liabilities
$12,159

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LINDA MUTSCHLER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - THROUGH MARCH 2026)
  • SOPHIA GESETTI (ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • MICHAEL NAST (PRESIDENT)
  • DENISE GOERGEN (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SOPHIA GESETTI (ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $77,696 total reported compensation
  • LINDA MUTSCHLER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - THROUGH MARCH 2026): $52,140 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To conserve the natural environment of the cedar lakes region.

What it reported doing in 2025

Clcf protects land in the cedar lakes region of Washington county, Wisconsin through fee simple purchases and conservation easements. Clcf strives to maintain the abundant natural beauty, clean water, and biodiversity of the cedar lakes region for generations to come and restores (when necessary) and maintains its fee simple properties while also annually monitoring its conservation easements.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 81
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.5%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 87.8%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $19.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 21st 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 28.7%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 19.94; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.5%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.1% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.5% of revenue deployed · 87.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $78K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D revenue reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.