The Lobster Foundation of Massachusetts Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 274453450
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2017
- Location
- Scituate, MA, USA
- Phone
- 7815456984
- Rating
- 87
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Wildlife Preservation, Protection
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $353,864
- Expenses
- $341,823
- Assets
- $74,361
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MICHAEL BARTLETT (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- ELIZABETH CASONI (DIRECTOR): $157,462 total reported compensation
- DAVID CASONI (DIRECTOR): $10,290 total reported compensation
- WILLIAM LISTER (DIRECTOR): $9,489 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To educate and promote outreach efforts to educate the public on a healthy, sustainable lobster industry and conservation efforts of massachussetts commercial lobstermen.
What it reported doing in 2024
To test grappling paired with gear marking technology as a cost-effective solution to allow the retreival of fixed gear, such as lobster traps, without the use of vertical lines.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 98% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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
STRONG - 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 96
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 39
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 94.8%; rating input score 95
- Program expense ratio: 98.2%; rating input score 98
- Fundraising efficiency: $323.75 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 25th 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: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 3.4%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.22; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.9%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 17.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 94.8% of revenue deployed · 98.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $336K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $157K · 11 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $318K reported
- Consistency: 14 of 14 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: 3 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.