Rural Land Foundation of Lincoln

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
046132391
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Lincoln, MA, USA
Phone
7812599250
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,445,083
Expenses
$916,740
Assets
$7,561,156
Liabilities
$4,564,460

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GEOFF MCGEAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • GEOFF MCGEAN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $191,586 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To help protect the rural character of lincoln, Massachusetts.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, rlf continued exploring land conservation initiatives in the town of lincoln, including monitoring land of conservation interest, developing and maintaining relationships with land owners, developing land planning solutions for open space protection and the location of public trails, and supporting initiatives to educate the town of lincoln about land conservation. Specific rlf accomplishments in 2025 include: acquisition: in may 2024, rlf signed an amended purchase and sale agreement with farrington memorial, inc. For the purchase of 7.6 acres of land in lincoln for $825,000. This land was deeded to rlf in december 2025. Rlf also reached preliminary agreement with farrington on terms for the purchase and conservation of approximately 60 additional acres of land owned by them. A purchase and sale agreement is expected to be signed in the spring of 2026 with closing shortly thereafter. Rlf intends to conserve the land as open space through conservation deed transfers and conservation restrictions.as part of the larger farrington conservation project, rlf signed an option agreement in october 2024 for the purchase of the 20-acre panetta property off page road and cambridge turnpike. Rlf intends to work with a developer to create tightly clustered housing on the property and conserve approximately 12 of the 20 acres. A purchase and sale agreement is expected to be signed in the spring of 2026 with closing on the property shortly thereafter.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Assets have declined or grown slowly and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.7%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 91.6%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $746.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 36.6%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.25; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.6; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.9%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.8% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.7% of revenue deployed · 91.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $840K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $192K · 19 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.