Center for Northern Woodlands Education Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 020507029
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Lyme, NH, USA
- Phone
- 6037950660
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Disaster Preparedness and Relief Services
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $901,587
- Expenses
- $864,006
- Assets
- $2,436,635
- Liabilities
- $535,176
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JESSICA LEAHY (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- BEN COSGROVE (DIRECTOR)
- ROBERT COWDEN (PAST PRESIDE)
- PATTY CRANE (DIRECTOR)
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 advance a culture of forest stewardship in the northeast and to increase understanding and appreciation of the natural wonders, economic productivity, and ecological integrity of the region's forests.
What it reported doing in 2024
Published northern woodlands magazine and distributed it free to educators and for a fee via retail sales and subscriptions. Produced a free syndicated ecology column for newspapers and other nature education resources distributed at no cost through a bi-weekly newsletter, regular social media posts, and the organization's website.
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
SUPPORTED - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 57
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 73.4%; rating input score 73
- Program expense ratio: 75.1%; rating input score 75
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.52 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd 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: 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: 4.2%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.82; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 73.4% of revenue deployed · 75.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $649K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 14 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.