Lets Plant Trees
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 931643546
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- Lutsen, MN, USA
- Phone
- 2186631234
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Forest Conservation
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $80,063
- Expenses
- $78,194
- Assets
- $42,709
- Liabilities
- $35,793
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CARRIE NICKLOW (PRESIDENT/TR)
People named in this filing
- MICHAEL NICKLOW (CHIEF EXEC O)
- CARRIE NICKLOW (PRESIDENT/TR)
- JEANNE ANDERSON (SECRETARY)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Let's plant trees is a Minnesota nonprofit dedicated to restoring healthy, resilient forests. We provide free native tree seedlings to property owners, along with the knowledge and resources they need to plant them successfully. Our work also includes educational presentations for schools, libraries, and community groups, as well as partnerships with communities, schools, and businesses to organize volunteer tree planting projects that make a lasting environmental impact. The need for reforestation is urgent. With the right information and support, seedling survival rates can improve dramatically. That is why we focus on planting native species suited to Minnesota's changing climate and share practical, timely guidance on when and where to plant.
What it reported doing in 2025
Let's plant trees promotes reforestation by giving away free native Minnesota tree seedlings along with clear guidance on how, when, and where to plant them. We organize volunteer tree planting projects with businesses and organizations across the state and provide educational presentations on the importance of reforestation at schools, libraries, and community events. A total of 20,000 seedlings were distributed in 2025. Plans for distrubiting 50,000 in 2026 and 100,000 in 2027 is underway.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 86% 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
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: 86
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 84.8%; rating input score 85
- Program expense ratio: 86.8%; rating input score 87
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.3%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.55; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.84; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 13.4%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 84.8% of revenue deployed · 86.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $68K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- 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.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.