The Cultural Landscape Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
522092229
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2024830553
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,847,948
Expenses
$1,579,288
Assets
$11,105,495
Liabilities
$266,445

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHARLES BIRNBAUM (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHARLES BIRNBAUM (PRESIDENT & CEO): $283,894 total reported compensation
  • NORD WENNERSTROM (DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS): $195,641 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

A non-profit established in 1998, the cultural landscape foundation (tclf) connects people to places. Tclf educates and engages the public to make our shared landscape heritage more visible, identify its value, and empower its stewards. Tclf achieves this mission through the ongoing development of its four core programs: what's out there, north america's largest and most exhaustive database of cultural landscapes; pioneers of american landscape design, an in-depth multimedia library, inclusive of video oral histories, chronicling the lives of significant landscape architects and educators; landslide, an ongoing collection of important landscapes and landscape features that are threatened; the cornelia hahn oberlander international landscape architecture prize, a biennial prize in landscape architecture that includes a us $100,000 monetary award and two years of public engagement activities.

What it reported doing in 2024

What's out there (wot): the goal of this searchable, easy-to-navigate database is to raise public awareness of the rich diversity and interconnectedness of our shared designed landscape heritage. Spanning over two centuries of american landscape design, the what's out there database is searchable by landscape name, locale, designer, type, and sytle. It has over 2,500 entries so far with content created by academics, volunteers, and advocates, and has been vetted over the past decade by dozens of researchers and historians. We created what's out there to serve as a reference for students and teachers of design and history, enthusiasts, and professionals, provoking interest, informing stewardship decisions, and enriching our understanding of our designed landscape history. An extension of the what's out there database, what's out there weekend draws people out into their communities to experience first-hand the landscapes that they see every day but often overlook. Hosted in different cities every year, what's out there weekend brings to light the unique landscape legacy and local character of each city, defined by its publicly accessible parks, gardens, plazas, cemeteries, memorials, and neighborhoods. Free, expert-led weekend tours of 25 to 30 sites.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 70% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 67
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.5%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 65.3%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.88 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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; 63rd 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: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.5%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.03; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 30.4%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.5% of revenue deployed · 65.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $284K · 30 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.