The L'Enfant Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521154054
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2024834880
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$529,056
Expenses
$331,213
Assets
$3,055,956
Liabilities
$3,737

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lauren Oswalt McHale (President and Secretary)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lauren Oswalt McHale (President and Secretary): $145,600 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The primary exempt purpose is to promote a public aesthetic in land use planning in Washington, DC.

What it reported doing in 2025

Preservation Program - The Trust creates and maintains programs to promote the beauty of Washington's urban environment. Trust was a pioneer in the use of the unique and powerful preservation tool the conservation easement. The easement is an enforceable promise, voluntarily made by a property owner and binding on all subsequent owners, that no change in the exterior appearance of a protected building will be made unless consented to by the L'Enfant Trust.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 50%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 71.1%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $30.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th 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; 64th 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: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 37.4%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.23; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 44%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 50% of revenue deployed · 71.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $236K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $146K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.