West Virginia Land Trust
Legal name: The West Virginia Land Trust Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 550740909
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Charleston, WV, US
- Phone
- (304) 346-7788
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Land Resources Conservation
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,072,841
- Expenses
- $1,231,739
- Assets
- $21,539,019
- Liabilities
- $56,861
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ANDY ALTMAN (PRESIDENT)
- JOY OAKES (VICE PRESIDENT)
- BRENT BAILEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- BRENT BAILEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $126,072 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The West Virginia Land Trust is a statewide nonprofit dedicated to protecting West Virginia's natural lands, scenic areas, water quality, and recreational access forever.
What it reported doing in 2024
Stewardship (property and easement maintenance): upon securing a conservation easement, the wvlt initiates an annual monitoring program to ensure that the covenants in the easement are adhered to and that the conservation values that have been recognized are protected in perpetuity. If there are violations of the easement, the wvlt will work with the owner to develop an action plan to mitigate any damages and if necessary, will legally defend the easement in court. When the land trust acquires property in fee, it determines the appropriate uses(s) for the land and elaborates a management plan that serves those uses. Those uses are developed with maximum public benefit in mind. On a preserve that is to be available to the public, those uses may include trail networks, streamside protection, or interactive services for educational purposes.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 78% 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 - 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 revenue has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 52
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 86
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 37.7%; rating input score 38
- Program expense ratio: 72.5%; rating input score 73
- Fundraising efficiency: $18.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- 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: 59.9%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 17.49; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.2%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 37.7% of revenue deployed · 72.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $893K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $126K · 17 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 38/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 58/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.