Vermont Law School

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237251952
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
South Royalton, VT, USA
Phone
8028311000
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$54,384,992
Expenses
$47,999,670
Assets
$56,256,364
Liabilities
$23,361,436

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

Leadership & pay

38 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Rodney Smolla (President)
  • Nathaniel Hilber (Past Vice President Finance)
  • Dave Celone (Vice President of OARD)

Highest reported compensation

  • Rodney Smolla (President): $369,654 total reported compensation
  • Daniel Bromberg (Dean of Graduate School): $236,149 total reported compensation
  • Mary-Beth McCormack (Dean of Law School): $231,299 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We are committed to developing a generation of leaders who use the power of the law to make a difference in our communities and the world. Vermont Law and Graduate School's mission statement is: "To educate students in a diverse community that fosters personal growth and that enables them to attain outstanding professional skills and high ethical values with which to serve as lawyers and environmental and other professionals in an increasingly technological and interdependent global society." Our motto is "law for the community and the world."

What it reported doing in 2024

Vermont Law and Graduate School provides outstanding legal and environmental education, with an emphasis on public service. The Environmental Law Center at VLGS houses the deepest graduate environmental law program in the country, offering Master's and LLM programs on campus, online, and in hybrid formats, and is consistently ranked among the nation's best by U.S. News and World Report. The school offers experiential opportunities through clinics and external training. In Fall of 2024, 730 full and part-time (both residential and online) students were enrolled in JD and other advanced degree programs. Vermont Law and Graduate School awarded 212 JD, Master's and LLM degrees in 2024.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 63% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 60% for direct work, and 40% for grants.
  • 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 reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.5%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 81.8%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.8%; rating input score 96; 49th 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: 11.7%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.17; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.5% of revenue deployed · 81.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 23 of 24 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $39.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $370K · 38 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $605K reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 39 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 17 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 7 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.