Loon Lake Land Conservancy

What it reported doing in 2024

We are an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff. At least 88 volunteers were active on conservancy projects during 2024, though we have over 125 regular volunteers. Board members and volunteers donate hundreds of hours of their time throughout the years accomplishing our mission. Volunteers save the conservancy well over $100,000 per year thanks to their contributed time! Our total number of donors, volunteers and board members currently is at 225 records. Many of these are husband/wife/couple records so that our total number of individuals is closer to 350.(continued in schedule o)property maintenance and other volunteer projects in 2024:- new 100 acre conservation easement signed for mcvay family trust protecting a major wetland & bird breeding/nature easement- centennial park spring clean-up, fall clean-up, summer lawn care- removal of tree protectors from morgan wood- signage at pearson meadow & haag property- morgan wood clean-up/log barriers replacedcommunity engagement & education:- loonsday information/education table- loon lake historical society festival information/education display- summer's eve benefit for the lake -water quality testing three times each summer, and have for the last sixteen years. We test for parameters to track those identified as key water quality indicators by Washington state to determine if water quality is deteriorating. So far, over this period, water quality has been fairly stable with some variation from time to time, depending on snow melt, rain, and temperature. Although the llpoa has taken over organizing these test days, our board members continue to provide critical equipment and staffing for the process.fundraising: we send out fundraising mailers to our 200+ registered volunteers & donors twice a year, in the spring and at year end. We have committed to our summers eve as an annual fundraising & supporter recruiting event and we decided to expand the event and charge for tickets. At $35/person we sold out our max of 144 attendees. Volunteers and donors joined the board on august 5 at the private lake home of a donor for an evening of dinner and beverages and to raise funds for our property acquisition fund. We expanded our sponsors level donations to cover the cost of the event so that we increased our gross and net revenue from the prior year. We also fundraise via email and snail mail campaigns. In 2024, we had an opportunity to create a conservation easement with the mcvay family trust which protects over 100 acres of waterfront wetlands and bird breeding area. We were able to raise 100% of the funds required through our email and phone and summer's eve event fundraising. Our fundraising surpassed the prior year which is a sign of the strong community support for protecting the environment of loon lake. Board health:-we have had no board member changes in 2024, although some officers retired from their active roles and new directors took over those leadership roles. Richard davies retired as president and was replaced by vp mary jo lovell. We have a succession plan in place now to ensure continuity at the president. Tim cronin replaced mary jo lovell as vp. Eric davis retired as treasurer and nancy hilpert assumed the role in spring of 2024 after shadowing him for six months. We have a list of new potential board members and committee leaders we are cultivating actively. Tim conin worked with our legal counsel to update our bylaws and amended & restated our articles of incorporation. We have acquired liability insurance for the board.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 26.6%; rating input score 27
• Program expense ratio: 84.7%; rating input score 85
• Fundraising efficiency: $26.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

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 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
  • 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: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 77.6%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 32.68; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -31.4% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings