Franklin County Humane Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
030275269
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Saint Albans, VT, USA
Phone
8025249650
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$558,416
Expenses
$273,158
Assets
$1,001,502
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Betsy Liley (Chair/President)
  • Jennifer Dean (Executive Director)

People named in this filing

  • Betsy Liley (Chair/President)
  • Michelle Little (Secretary)
  • Eric Ciemniewski (Officer)

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

Franklin County Humane Society dba Franklin County Animal Rescue (FCAR)promotes the health, welfare, and humane treatment of animal in Northwestern Vermont and provides temporary shelter for them with the goal of finding them good, permanent homes within the community.

What it reported doing in 2024

Franklin County Animal Rescue (FCAR) is the only shelter in almost 900 square miles of northwestern Vermont. A shelters live release rate is the recognized gold standard of a shelters lifesaving work. The outcomes achieved for dogs and cats at Franklin County Animal Rescue exceed Vermont and national averages for six straight years. Franklin County Animal Rescues performance since 2017 ranges from 95% to 98% live release, based on data from the national Shelter Animals Count database and Best Friends Animal Society. Thats far above the 90% save rate considered no kill. Community support is strong as demonstrated by more than 64 active volunteers; more than 1,000 annual donors and among the Top 10 Facebook communities in Franklin County. Franklin County Animal Rescue also was selected as a beneciary of community fundraising including the Running of the Bells, Haddad Subaru, and others. Franklin County Animal Rescue has ended the past five years in the black and has reserves equal to a year of operational costs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 87
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 41.2%; rating input score 41
  • Program expense ratio: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $28.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 5th 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 51.1%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.67; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -5.7% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 41.2% of revenue deployed · 83.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $229K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2011 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 41/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.