The Clifton Institute Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521413042
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Warrenton, VA, USA
Phone
5403413651
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,027,209
Expenses
$978,690
Assets
$7,674,046
Liabilities
$90,516

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DOUGLAS LARSON (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELEANOR R HARRIS PH D (CO- DIRECTOR): $57,343 total reported compensation
  • J BERTON HARRIS PHD (CO- DIRECTOR): $57,274 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 inspire a deeper understanding and appreciation of nature, to study the ecology of our region, to restore habitat, and to conserve native biodiversity. We fulfill our mission by providing environmental education to people of all ages, carrying out ecological research, and restoring habitat for native plants and animals. Our 900-acre field station in central fauquier county Virginia, which includes forests, grasslands, shrub fields, and wetlands, provides a beautiful and easily accessible location for our programs and is permanently protected under a conservation easement.

What it reported doing in 2024

Research. We do research that helps us understand how land management decisions affect declining native species. And then we make sure that what we learn from our research gets back into the hands of the people who can use it. For the last few years, we have been studying american kestrels and eastern box turtles to figure out how to manage habitat for these charismatic species. We have also been studying native grasslands to learn about the conservation status of these habitats and come up with strategies to restore them. In 2024, 12 research technicians and interns tracked 19 american kestrels and 11 box turtles from spring through fall. We published 2 peer-reviewed papers about our research projects and we gave 5 presentations and workshops about our results.

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 91% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.9%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 79.7%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.7%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.84; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.7%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.5% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.9% of revenue deployed · 79.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $780K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $57K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.