Ipswich River Watershed Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042615125
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Ipswich, MA, USA
Phone
9784128200
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,827,775
Expenses
$3,631,438
Assets
$4,546,041
Liabilities
$138,686

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KEN MACNULTY (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ERIN B CASEY (EXEC DIRECTO): $105,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The organization's primary exempt purpose is to perform research and provide education related to the protection of the natural resouces of the ipswich river watershed.

What it reported doing in 2025

The organization conducted research and provided education regarding the protection of natural resources of the ipswich river watershed.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 91.4%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.1%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.25; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.9%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 36.8% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87% of revenue deployed · 91.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $105K · 19 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $448K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.