The Conservation Law Center Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 202321854
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Bloomington, IN, USA
- Phone
- 8128560229
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Public Interest Law
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,164,489
- Expenses
- $1,217,768
- Assets
- $5,440,469
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CHRISTIAN FREITAG (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- KIM FERRARO (MANAGING ATTORNEY): $116,239 total reported compensation
- ANDREA CAPIO (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $109,887 total reported compensation
- MICHAEL ZOELLER (SENIOR ATTORNEY): $103,343 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The conservation law center provides legal counsel to conservation organizations usually without charge, works to improve conservation law and policy, and offers law students a clinical experience in the practice of law.
What it reported doing in 2024
Clc is the only public interest environmental law firm in Indiana. We address the state's most pressing environmental problems through public interest litigation, policy advocacy, and by providing legal support to frontline organizations. Clc's growing staff of thirteen full-time professionals currently includes seven attorneys experienced in the practice of regulatory, conservation, and land use law. Clc's core mission is to provide pro bono representation to conservation organizations engaged in protecting clean water and natural habitat, as well as to nonprofits and community groups tackling environmental health issues. We are also committed to training the next generation of public interest environmental lawyers through the conservation law clinic at Indiana university's maurer school of law. By working on active cases under the supervision of clc's attorneys, law students develop essential lawyering skills needed to navigate complex environmental laws and regulatory processes. The clinic also exposes participating law students to the interplay between pervasive environmental problems and the broader socio-economic, political, and cultural contexts in which they occur.
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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 46
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 81
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 28.4%; rating input score 28
- Program expense ratio: 75.4%; rating input score 75
- Fundraising efficiency: $16.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd 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; 63rd 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: 61.5%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.47; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 30.7%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.7% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 18.3% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 22.7% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 28.4% of revenue deployed · 75.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $918K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $116K · 11 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
- 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 28/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.