Royal River Conservation Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010472430
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Yarmouth, ME, USA
Phone
2078479399
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$456,901
Expenses
$358,401
Assets
$5,621,960
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVE BEERS (PAST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • CHRIS FRANKLIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • BETH STURTEVANT (PRESIDENT)
  • MELINDA SHEHEE (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRIS FRANKLIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $80,769 total reported compensation
  • DAVE BEERS (PAST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $21,685 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 royal river conservation trust (rrct) is a regional land trust working primarily in seven Maine municipalities. The trust owns, cares for, and stewards land and conservation easements to protect land and water resources for the general public.

What it reported doing in 2025

Stewardship: rrct conducts annual on-site monitoring of all conservation easements, and executes stewardship plans, projects, and protocols on trail easements and fee ownership. Rrct stewardship policies and protocols are guided by the land trust alliance and Maine law.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% 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.

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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 47
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.7%; rating input score 48
  • Program expense ratio: 52.4%; rating input score 52
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: 21.6%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 15.69; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.6%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 47.7% of revenue deployed · 52.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $188K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $81K · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 52/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.