Trust Montana Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 453204921
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2017
- Location
- Missoula, MT, USA
- Phone
- 4068987636
- Rating
- 63
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Community, Neighborhood Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $522,793
- Expenses
- $287,144
- Assets
- $2,321,382
- Liabilities
- $32,651
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DAWN CONKLIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
- SHEILA RICE (PRESIDENT)
- NATE RICHMOND (VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- DAWN CONKLIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $69,904 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Trust Montana's mission is to promote community land trusts and hold land in trust to facilitate workforce housing, farmland affordability, and the preservation of vital community assets that keep rural and urban areas livable for montanans of varied economic means.
What it reported doing in 2025
Clt homes: trust Montana's permanently affordable homes program preserves rental units and homeownership properties in trust to guarantee affordability for current and future families. Trust Montana stewards 30 homes and 5 rental properties in eight communities across the state, having added two new home ownership opportunities and one rental units in 2025. Trust Montana home owners and renters must income-qualify, ensuring that these homes benefit working class individuals in communities. The expansion to add an additional rental property in 2025 was co-designed with the community, responding to the need for diverse affordable housing types.affordable land llc is a single-member llc owned by trust Montana. It was formed in 2019 to hold the titles of all land that is acquired for permanently affordable projects of trust Montana. Affordable land collects lease fees from each household monthly. It also collects stewardship payments at the time of home closings and those funds are placed into a savings account to ensure that future maintenance and other expenses will be covered.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 93% 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 21
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 76
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 16.9%; rating input score 17
- Program expense ratio: 30%; rating input score 30
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th 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: 45.1%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.08; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 24.3%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 22% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 27% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 16.9% of revenue deployed · 30% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $86K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $70K · 14 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2018 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 17/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 30/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.