Living Earth School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
384169577
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Afton, VA, USA
Phone
4342600086
Rating
64
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$921,377
Expenses
$817,169
Assets
$476,347
Liabilities
$1,408

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HUB KNOTT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • HUB KNOTT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $76,975 total reported compensation
  • ARION OXFORD (ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR): $47,770 total reported compensation
  • ELIZABETH GIVENS (PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $47,526 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Living Earth Schools mission is to nurture healthy connections to nature, self, and community through immersive, nature-based education and mentoring experiences for children, teens and adults.

What it reported doing in 2025

Year Round Youth Nature Connection and Leadership Programs Living Earth School provides year-round, nature-based education programs that serve youth ages 5 -18 through homeschool programs, weekend offerings, summer camps, and teen mentorship programs, serving approximately 1,100 young people annually. These programs are designed to build resilience, confidence, environmental literacy, and social-emotional skills through immersive outdoor experiences and mentoring relationships. Across programs youth participants demonstrate measurable growth in independence, confidence, and connection to the natural world. Parents report that youth demonstrate increased resilience, including the ability to navigate physical and social challenges and that participants return from programs more calm, grounded, and confident.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 86% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 57
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 55.5%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 63.4%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.79 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.3%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.58; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.5%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 27% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.8% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 55.5% of revenue deployed · 63.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $518K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $77K · 11 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.