Maine Rivers

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
020556861
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Yarmouth, ME, USA
Phone
2078479277
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$853,379
Expenses
$746,803
Assets
$648,822
Liabilities
$6,618

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • A Landis Hudson (Executive Director)
  • Chuck Verrill (President, Board of Directors)

Highest reported compensation

  • A Landis Hudson (Executive Director): $95,250 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Maine Rivers is a statewide advocacy organization. Our mission is to protect, restore and enhance the ecological health of Maine's river systems. We support and direct efforts to conserve and improve the health of Maine's rivers and waters. We work both independently and in conjunction with like-minded individuals, groups, organizations and other entities to protect and restore Maine's rivers.

What it reported doing in 2024

Maine Rivers advocates for the health of Maine's rivers with policy-makers at all levels. We focus on water quality and fish passage, and take great interest in the impacts of climate change. We work with community members, land trusts, tribes, state and federal agencies. We review permits and coordinate meetings. We draft and submit letters, as well as technical review materials, to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and Bureau of Environmental Protection.We share scientific information as well as relevant news regarding local, state and national river milestones via social media, newsletters and email. We spoke about the value of river health to the Sebasticook Regional Land Trust, Washington Lakes Watershed Association, and the Webber Pond Association. We advise and coordinate with the Royal River Alliance, Mousam and Kennebunk Rivers Alliance, the Webber Pond Association, Megunticook Riverkeepers, Friends of the Presumpscot, Cobbossee Upstream and others. We offer technical support for the removal of the Stroudwater Dam in Portland. We are an active member of the Kennebec Coalition. We co-chair the Maine Stream Connectivity Working Group. We were invited to Quebec City in May, 2024 to receive the "Distinguished Project Award" at the international Fish Passage Conference organized by ASCE Environmental & Water Resources Institute and AFS Bioengineering Section. We received the award for the successful China Lake Alewife Restoration Initiative.

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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 54
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.3%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 93.9%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: $107.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings

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: 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: 12.5%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.87; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.8%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -23% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -19.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.3% of revenue deployed · 93.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $701K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $95K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.