Conserve Lake County C/o Openlands

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363989864
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2017
Forms available
Form 990 2017
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3128636250
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$189,455
Expenses
$501,243
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARAH SURROZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARAH SURROZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $87,838 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Conserve lake county is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and stewarding natural lands and farmland throughout lake county, Illinois. Since 2004, we have preserved over 450 acres of open land in partnerships with private landowners. The organization also fosters land stewardship on public and private lands and offers a variety of education activities that inspire and teach people to care for the county's open land. The support of volunteers, members, businesses, and foundations is vital to our success.our work benefits the people of lake county by supporting the health and quality of life of their communities. Our work also benefits our county's rich diversity of plants and animals. Lake county is, in fact, of special state-wide significance. It provides sanctuary to more than 130 threatened and endangered species, the most of any county in the state.

What it reported doing in 2017

Land stewardship: conserve lake county restores land to good health on property it owns and also helps private landowners and public partners be good stewards of their lands. Many landowners want to care for their properties in ways that promote healthy soils, biodiversity, and clean water but need help using the best conservation practices. We also engage volunteers to help with land restoration work at two sites. As an extension of our land stewardship program, in 2013 we moved forward with a cooperative sustainable farming venture at our casey farm property in cooperation with the liberty prairie foundation, radical root organic farm, and the lake county forest preserve. This will demonstrate sustainable farming practices that will benefit the land and water of lake county.

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. The required major-donor schedule is missing or incomplete and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 3
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 60.7%; rating input score 61
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 17; 17th 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: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -164.6%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.5%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -9% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -12.7% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -13.4% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 60.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $304K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $88K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2010 to 2017
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.