Mt Ascutney Outdoors Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
475085988
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Brownsville, VT, USA
Phone
8024843140
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Parks and Playgrounds

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$786,559
Expenses
$321,377
Assets
$2,325,792
Liabilities
$1,944

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Steve Wood (Chair)
  • Natalie Starr (Vice Chair)
  • Shelley Seward (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Mt. Ascutney Outdoors, Inc's mission is to promote vitality within the community by providing affordable and unique recreational, cultural and educational activities to local residents and visitors from the Upper Valley region of Vermont and beyond. Our events and activities are set amongst an exceptionally diverse ecosystem and stunning trail system, and the Ascutney Outdoor Center offers diverse programs for nature, conservation, cultural activities and events. Our community-driven approach is self-sustaining and designed to engage volunteers and passionate participants.

What it reported doing in 2025

Mt. Ascutney Outdoors, Inc. offers a remarkable four-season venue for lovers of nature and outdoor activities. The community and visitors enjoy public access to trails, forests and fields for walking and hiking, mountain biking, trail running, alpine skiing and snow tubing, and back-country skiing and snowshoeing. Alpine skiers have been thrilled about Ascutney's varied terrain and friendly appeal for over sixty years. Building on this tradition, Mt. Ascutney Outdoors operates a 1,800' Doppelmayr T-bar. The T-bar serves a number of trails on the lower mountain slopes with skiing for all abilities. Our lifts are adjacent to the Ascutney Outdoors Center, which serves as a hub for recreational activities, community activities and a diverse array of events.We rely on the wonderful support and hard work of more than one hundred volunteers to run our operation and keep our operation sustainable.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 82% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 88
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 40.2%; rating input score 40
  • Program expense ratio: 94.6%; rating input score 95
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1,177.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 59.1%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.24; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 40.2% of revenue deployed · 94.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $304K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 40/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.