The Howard County Conservancy Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Mt. Pleasant is a 325-year-old farm now operated as a nature reserve and educational facility. Mt. Pleasant is located on 232 acres of rolling hills, with a variety of habitat and is ideally suited for nature study and exploration. The gudelsky environmental education center, on-site at mt. Pleasant, is howard county's first nature center. It is dedicated to educating children and adults about environmental stewardship and ecosystems. The conservancy focuses its programs on local animal and plant life found in the chesapeake bay watershed. The conservancy has been an educational partner with the howard county public school system since 2003 and has other partnerships with howard county master gardeners, howard county recreation & parks department, howard county bird club, howard county blacksmith guild and others.the howard county conservancy reaches more than 30,000 people each year through our environmental education programs for k-12th grade students. We also operate a nature preschool for children ages 3-5. We host programs for children and adults throughout the year at our 232 -acre mt. Pleasant farm in woodstock, md. Our grounds are open to the public dawn to dusk daily and feature five miles of trails, community gardens, pollinator gardens and a collection of historic buildings. Our community garden donates 4,000 pounds of produce each year to our local food bank.the conservancy is an educational partner with the howard county public school system and works closely with other nonprofit and community organizations. We also conserve land through conservation easements on properties throughout howard county.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 79.7%; rating input score 80
• Program expense ratio: 89.1%; rating input score 89
• Fundraising efficiency: $55.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th 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; 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: 12%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.54; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 8.1%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings