Florida Conservation Group Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471365766
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Nokomis, FL, USA
Phone
9412347201
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,072,776
Expenses
$1,140,443
Assets
$20,226
Liabilities
$47,192

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

People named in this filing

  • DAVID DURANDO (CHAIRMAN)
  • JULIE K MORRIS (EXECUTIVE DI)
  • JAMES STRICKLAND (VC)

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

Mission is to seek protection of land and water resources through restoration and conservation; and conducting education and outreach on the ecological and economic importance of natural lands. We protect land from development and protect and restore water resources.

What it reported doing in 2024

Advocacy and outreach: we continued working with landowners to develop and implement conservation plans for their properties. We are active throughout southwest and southcentral Florida. There are myriad of different state and federal conservation programs available; the challenge is to bring together the best fit for each landowner and property, as well as to secure the appropriate funding for each property. Over the past year, we met with 60 different landowners, to provide outreach and the various conservation programs that are available to protect and manage private land for conservation. We conducted one-on one outreach with landowners to provide information on conservation programs. We are currently working with various landowners to apply for funding and advocate the protection of their lands. We also hosted several smaller group meetings with landowners to discuss conservation easement programs available to them. The vast majority of our landowner meetings were centered around talking about the state's rural and family lands protection program - the state's agricultural easement program. The new application cycle opened in december of 2024. We also worked with the united states fish and wildlife service national wildlife refuge system to reach out to landowners on the new everglades to gulf conservation area. The new conservation area was established in march of 2024; it encompasses 4 million acres and is an opportunity area, where landowners can sell their lands to usfws for conservation. We helped lead the education efforts for this new area.

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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66.4%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 62.4%; rating input score 62
  • Fundraising efficiency: $565.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 96; 96th 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: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.3%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.02; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 2.33; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 38.5% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66.4% of revenue deployed · 62.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $712K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.