Littleton Conservation Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
046072250
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Littleton, MA, USA
Phone
9784480320
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$60,422
Expenses
$38,941
Assets
$1,159,232
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dustin Neild (President)
  • Alyssa Russell (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Dustin Neild (President)
  • Alyssa Russell (Vice President)
  • Christine Nordhaus (Treasurer)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Littleton Conservation Trust (LCT) is a private land trust formed in 1962 to promote Littleton's rural character, to preserve its water, plant, and wildlife resources and its unique views; and to provide environmental education.

What it reported doing in 2025

Land Stewardship - Initiating evaluation of properties unique characteristics for conversation restriction application with the State. Available for use by general public in Littleton and surrounding towns.

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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 49
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 78
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.5%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 55.7%; rating input score 56
  • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 35.6%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 29.77; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -13.5% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.5% of revenue deployed · 55.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $22K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.