Hill Country Land Trust Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
742907255
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-N 2007
Location
Fredericksburg, TX, USA
Phone
8328181539
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Reported finances

Revenue
$645,105
Expenses
$1,345,967
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TIFFANY OSBURN (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • GEORGE BARR (TREASURER)
  • ERROL CANDY (DIRECTOR)
  • MIKE KRUEGER (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 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We participate in conservation education programs, presentations, publications and educational booths. Our activities benefit hill country residents and visitors. During 2022 8 conservation easements were assigned to Texas land conservancy and 1 conservation easement to the nature conservancy. The final 4 easements were assigned to Texas land conservancy during calendar year 2023.

What it reported doing in 2023

The hill country land trust is a nationally accredited land trust that holds 4 conservation easements, protecting approximately 1898 acres of the Texas hill country for current and future generations. Our programmatic work is focusssed on the due diligence and annual monitoring of those easements. In addition, we actively seek to partner with interested landowners who would like to place easements on their land, work to protect the viewshed of enchanted rock state natural area, provide educational tools and programming for hill country landowners and residents, and work with partners to utilize land conservation to advance the protection of water quality and quantity, wildlife habitat, scenic viewsheds, working ranchlands, and native flora and fauna populations across our 19 county service area. Our activities provide benefits to both current and future generations of hill country residents and visitors. We assigned 9 conservation easements to Texas land conservancy in 2021, 8 conservation easements to Texas land conservancy in 2022 and 1 conservation easement to the nature conservancy in 2022. The final 4 conservation easements were assigned to Texas land conservancy in 2023. All easements and associated monies have been transferred to either the nature conservancy or Texas land conservancy at december 31, 2023. The land trust's accredidation expired on july 31, 2023 and was not renewed as all easements were transferred to Texas land conservancy during calendar year 2023.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 100% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 10
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 98.4%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • 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: -108.6%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 69.1% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 25.4% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -40% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 98.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2020 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.