Lake Bluff Open Lands Association
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 363111442
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Lake Bluff, IL, USA
- Phone
- 2024807583
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Land Resources Conservation
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $114,225
- Expenses
- $167,181
- Assets
- $1,235,302
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Ben Miller (President)
- Susan Raymoure (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Michele Mrachek (Director, Volunteer & Natural Areas Coordinator): $39,545 total reported compensation
- Jolana I Fedewa (Summer Intern): $14,235 total reported compensation
- Natalie Meadows (Summer Intern): $11,502 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The LBOLA is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of open spaces and natural areas in and around the Village of Lake Bluff, Illinois. We work on Village, Park District and our own properties and on conservation easements.
What it reported doing in 2024
LBOLA uses adult volunteers and paid interns, primarily in the summer, to preserve, protect and restore the open spaces and natural areas in and around Lake Bluff, IL. Workers use chain saws, brush saws and loppers to clear away invasive plants, use herbicides to control re-sprouts and use controlled burning techniques to revitalize the natural seed bed. The largest portion of the expenses is for the wages, payroll taxes, workers compensation and other insurance costs to protect the high school and college age interns and high school student volunteers that assist during the school year. Additional costs include restoration and maintenance equipment, equipment maintenance costs, purchases of plants and seeds and the printing and postage costs of newsletter mailings to our members.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 93% 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.
- 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 69
- Sustainability: 38
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -46.4%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.39; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 39.6%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 22.2% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $167K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $40K · 18 people listed
- Consistency: 12 of 12 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.