Vermont Covertswoodlands for Wildlife Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Vermont coverts had the following accomplishments in 2024. The coverts online book group selected the books for 2024. Ben goldfarb's "crossings: how road ecology is shaping the future of our planet-; noah charney's "these trees tell a story- and robin wall kimmerer's "gathering moss- and "how to love a forest" by ehtan tapper. We continued collaboration efforts with land ethic Vermont (training new, library project, speakers) and women owning woodlands (videos/demo rojects/case studies/old growth forest bus tour/rack card). Also conducted promotion of updated Vermont conservation design hosting a program with jens hilke. Continued work on the lsr grant awarded to vnrc on engaging new landowners. Coverts is receiving funds to aid in the development of a strategy for outreach and the development of materials. We also received funds from an lsr focused on biodiversity. We utilized thse funds through the training itself, stewardship programming and in support of staff time for the bear ambassador program. Additional accomplishments: bear ambassadors-advanced coverts training. Served on addison county forester interview panel (hired brandon benedict). Featured in northern woodlands community voices. Cooperator training (spring may 17-19 in the shutesville corridor and fall september 13-15 at kehoe). Wow demo project walks/case studies/old growth forest bus tour/steering committee retreat/submitted next lsr. Participated in focus group for move forward together Vermont. Continued work on grants from fh&i for both coverts and wow. Created video shorts with habitat stamp monies promoting work done in 2023. County forester meet and greets (s windsor, Washington, addison, chittenden, franklin/grand isle). Support and attend the sowing seeds conference. Attended forest roundtable meetings. Attend biodiversity alliance meetings. Attended the forest ecosystem monitoring conference (femc). Weekly e-news. 3 woodlands for life newsletters. Posts to facebook & instagram. Article by bill pendergraft and the influence of coverts in the vt almanac. Auction. Annual meeting. Annual fund drive. 2024 coverts programs or those with partners: avensa forest management in her woods (wow) hemlock management tree id-benson tree id-barnet westford walk stonewalls: links to human and woodland ecology the ins and outs of trail cams (mbr) trail cam placement tricks and tips (mbr) introduction to wildlife tracking at mbr (mbr) apple tree release and pruning (richmond) apple tree release and pruning (rupert) future of the forest at foxglove farm (mark raishart) ncrs cost share crazy for coarse woody debris (mbr) being tick safe in vt woodland management at wolf forest (len schmidt) how fish grow on trees invasive jumping worms: "what we know, what we can do" oh deer bird walk hartland (tina barney) active forest management (judith falk) space invaders walk in her woods: shoreham tree planting (wow - melita bass) eat, poop, die walk in her woods: rochester pre-commercial thinning (wow-doreen jones) old growth forest bus tour (wow) passing lands pop-up (waterbury) nature journaling with clair walker-leslie tom wessels online talk (w/lev) tom wessels walk ad n woods (w/lev) horse logging (tracy winn) forest management for wildlife, biodiversity and resiliency (sam schiela) bats (tracy winn) author talk - ethan tapper at bixby library leopold bench build (allen yale) leopold bench build (partnership with rokeby) understanding Vermont conservation design decision making with climate change in mind (joe cotten) indentifying and controlling invasives in small forest blocks (kim peck) passing lands pop up (randolph) these trees tell a story with noah charney invasives on small woodlots (Washington county - peck) chainsaw safety with wow reading panel for natural resource books outreach to coverts cooperators: s. Windsor county forester meet and greet Washington county forester meet and greet addison county forester meet and greet chittenden county forester meet and gree

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 58.1%; rating input score 58
• Program expense ratio: 71.7%; rating input score 72
• Fundraising efficiency: $20.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 58; 58th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • 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: 26.3%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.58; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings