Opal Community Land Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
943116010
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Eastsound, WA, USA
Phone
3603763191
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Housing Development, Construction, Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,237,298
Expenses
$1,762,237
Assets
$47,955,764
Liabilities
$6,046,001

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BONNIE BURG (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ANNE MARIE SHANKS (SECRETARY/ FORMER VICE PRESIDENT)
  • RUSTY DIGGS (PRESIDENT)
  • MARGARET MILLS (FORMER PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELISABETH BYERS (EXECUTIVE DIR.): $143,191 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of opal community land trust is to help sustain orcas island as a healthy, economically diverse community by providing permanently affordable homes and related education and support for islanders-families, seniors and singles - whose housing needs are not met by the traditional market.

What it reported doing in 2025

Housing development: develop land and houses to rent or own that are affordable to low to moderate income households. Provide housing counseling and related support services.

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 most voting board members are independent. 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: 41
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 86
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 13%; rating input score 13
  • Program expense ratio: 72.1%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: $163.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 89; 89th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 84.3%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 27.21; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.1%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.2% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 13% of revenue deployed · 72.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $143K · 12 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $4M reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 13/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.