Maine Lakes Society Dba Maine Lakes
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 010322800
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2012
- Location
- Yarmouth, ME, USA
- Phone
- 2074952301
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $336,391
- Expenses
- $285,335
- Assets
- $264,051
- Liabilities
- $5,608
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SUSAN ADAMS (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- SUSAN GALLO (EXECUTIVE DI): $76,106 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To protect and preserve of Maine's lakes, both today and long into the future. Our programs and activities promote healthy lakes for all lake users, including residents, visitors, lake associations, communities, and the next generation of lake stewards.
What it reported doing in 2024
The Maine lakes advocacy program includes a wide range of activities focused on sharing information with members, colleagues, agencies and decision-makers about proposed state legislation. Because 2024 was the second session of the legislature, we spent less time tracking lake bills than in 2023. However, there were several vital bills that needed extensive outreach to both legislators and to activists. We sent three legislative alerts to our network of 500 grassroots activists for action on bills to increase funds for invasive species risk reduction, enable municipalities to put liens on properties in gross violations of shoreland zoning laws, and create a setback from shore for wakesurfing. Activists came through with testimony and phone calls in support of lake protection. Maine lakes had an on-line training for lake advocates in january, and worked throughout the summer building a lake protection coalition that it hopes will help build capacity for more and stronger partnerships around community organizing and lake advocacy efforts in 2025. This coalition building work resulted in larger spending in the advocacy program than is typical for Maine lakes.
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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 69
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 67.3%; rating input score 67
- Program expense ratio: 78.6%; rating input score 79
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.7 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 15.2%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.93; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 26.7%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 67.3% of revenue deployed · 78.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $224K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $76K · 15 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.