The Piedmont Environmental Council

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
540935569
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Warrenton, VA, USA
Phone
5403472334
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Land Resources Conservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,005,795
Expenses
$10,827,374
Assets
$11,635,606
Liabilities
$520,906

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

Leadership & pay

47 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTOPHER MILLER (PRESIDENT)
  • JAMES S SCHWARTZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTOPHER MILLER (PRESIDENT): $252,929 total reported compensation
  • NORA SEILHEIMER (ADVANCEMENT DIRECTOR): $198,862 total reported compensation
  • JAMES S SCHWARTZ (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $147,643 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Protect and restore the lands and waters of the Virginia piedmont, while building stronger, more sustainable communities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Outreach & education: pec's on-the-ground, hands-on education, demonstration, outreach and advocacy work inspires greater public participation in the processes and decision-making that affect the environment of the Virginia piedmont and the sustainability of its communities. Pec is focused on encouraging implementation of broader policy goals by facilitating individual and community participation in assisting with applications for available programs, organizing volunteers and supporting direct action. Farms and food: educate consumers and institutions about local food and farms, and connect them with fresh, healthy local food sources through the "buy fresh buy local" program. Pec also supports expanded opportunities for farmers through workshops that connect piedmont landowners and farmers seeking farmland to lease or purchase, participation in and promotion of state and national new and beginning farmer initiatives, the development of a farmer-chef express online service to connect local farmers to retailers, the management of demonstration projects for innovative pasture management practices, and leasing pec owned land to local farmers for agricultural uses. Transportation and growth management: promote orderly economic progress sensitive to conserving resources; analyze the impact of planned roadways in order to promote alternatives that minimize damage to the Virginia piedmont.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 69% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 76.5%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.57 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: 46.7%; rating input score 47; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.8%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.07; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.2%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69% of revenue deployed · 76.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 40 of 40 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $8.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $253K · 47 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $2.5M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 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.

  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 47/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.