Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
541762533
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2018
Location
Leesburg, VA, USA
Phone
7037772575
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Wildlife Preservation, Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$393,437
Expenses
$335,022
Assets
$934,311
Liabilities
$39,984

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Amy Ulland (President)
  • Peter Lyttle (Vice President)
  • Michael Myers (Executive Director (To 04/24))
  • Thomas H Kercheval (Executive Director (From 06/24))

Highest reported compensation

  • Thomas H Kercheval (Executive Director (From 06/24)): $47,874 total reported compensation
  • Michael Myers (Executive Director (To 04/24)): $40,342 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy inspires, motivates, and engages people to protect, preserve, and restore wildlife habitat in Loudoun County, Virginia.We accomplish our mission through our advocacy, education, citizen science, and habitat conservation programs. Our programs protect and restore wildlife habitat in Loudoun County; serve as a knowledge leader and partner for wildlife stewardship; inspire and engage people to become involved in the natural world; advocate for the advancement of wildlife and habitat conservation; and increase our capacity to fulfill the demands of our mission.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education is the heart of Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy's mission, and we offer hundreds of free educational programs and events each year to the community, including field trips, nature walks, lectures, and hands-on educational outreach. Our varied programs and events provide a rich source of information on local wildlife habitat sustainability and other vital environmental issues affecting Loudoun County. The quality of our programs and field trips is enhanced through community partnerships that provide access to properties for our events and occasionally speakers for our programs. Our Peterson Young Naturalist Program is our main "formal" education offering, a partnership with Loudoun County Public Schools. The Peterson Program trains teachers to implement nature journaling in an outdoor classroom environment, connecting thousands of K-12 students each year (including many in Title 1 schools) to the proven educational and personal benefits of outdoor learning. Our Eagle Cam program, a partnership with the Dulles Greenway, also reaches students and others around the world by providing an inside look at the lives of Bald Eagles through two live-stream cameras inconspicuously placed in their nest. Finally, our quarterly printed newsletter, the Habitat Herald, provides a wealth of timely and informative articles each year related to local environmental topics. It's distributed to our members and the general public.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.6%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 76%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 14.8%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.79; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.3%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.7% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.6% of revenue deployed · 76% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $255K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $48K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 34/100.