Island Heritage Trust Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010426251
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Deer Isle, ME, USA
Phone
2073842455
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Land Resources Conservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,988,826
Expenses
$1,454,751
Assets
$2,968,057
Liabilities
$31,564

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JULIA ZELL (EXECUTIVE DI): $93,517 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Contributing to the well-being of the island community by conserving its distinctive landscapes and natural resources, maintaining public access to valued trails, shoreline and islands, and by providing educational programming for all ages.

What it reported doing in 2024

Promoted the value of land conservation, environmental education, environmental protection, significant open space, scenic areas, wildlife habitat, natural resources, and historic and cultural features that offer public benefit to the residents and visitors to deer isle, Maine. A total of 2,338 acres and 40 miles of shoreline have been protected to date with over 50,000 preserve visits a year. 80+ volunteers engaged in our work, including trail building and maintenance, and participating in over 30 varied-topic, virtual, public education programs for all ages. Approximately 500 local school students benefit from working with our environmental educator, the school nature trail, and taking field trips to our preserves each year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.8%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 85%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 26.9%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.04; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.4%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.8% of revenue deployed · 85% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $94K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.