Maine Tree Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 010453264
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Augusta, ME, USA
- Phone
- 2076219872
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Alliance/Advocacy Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $769,614
- Expenses
- $844,416
- Assets
- $5,088,724
- Liabilities
- $27,242
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- LOGAN JOHNSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
- Jonathan Pottle (President)
Highest reported compensation
- LOGAN JOHNSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $91,194 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our Mission is to educate and advocate for the sustainable use of the forest and the ecological, economic, and social health of Maines forest community
What it reported doing in 2024
Keeping Maine's forests ia a collaboration of leaders from public, private, and nonprofit organizations with interest in the future of Maine's north woods, including land ownership, recreation, the environment, community development, the forest products industry, and conservation. Kmf is a rare venue where discussion from different viewpoints occurs fact to face. Through kmf, those who care about the future of the Maine woods can share information and resources, promote sustainable forest management and conservation, improve stewardship of forest lands, and speak with one voice to state and federal elected officials. Keeping Maine's forest held two member forums in 2023. During those forums, participants and members discussed challenges associated with access to Maine's forests. Fern - the forest ecology research network (fern) combines the best of project learning tree's curriculum with standard forest data collection protocols to provide community scientists with the tools they need to answer questions they have about the Maine forests. In 2024, we received grants to create fern kits to have for schools and to help set up fern plots.
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 97% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 64
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 91.5%; rating input score 92
- Program expense ratio: 80.2%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: $14.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- 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: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -9.7%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.03; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.8%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 91.5% of revenue deployed · 80.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $677K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $91K · 14 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 32 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.