Western Landowners Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461346488
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Denver, CO, USA
Phone
5054661495
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Land Resources Conservation

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,576,444
Expenses
$3,942,187
Assets
$3,467,282
Liabilities
$113,175

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LESLI ALLISON (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • LESLI ALLISON (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $169,909 total reported compensation
  • RACHAEL ROBINSON (CHIEF OPER OFFICER): $157,725 total reported compensation
  • HALLIE MAHOWALD (CHEIF PROGRAMS OFFICER): $123,992 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

See schedule o.

What it reported doing in 2025

Stewardship: facilitating the exchange of knowledge and information among practitioners to inform and support the stewardship of land and natural resources. Includes forums, field tours, webinars, publications and films. Also includes ensuring science and technical assistance is broadly available to land managers. Establishing a website to serve as a platform for the dissemination of information. This program affects the general public.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 72% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.8%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 76%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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: 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: 13.9%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.88; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.9%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 19.2% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.6% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.6% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.8% of revenue deployed · 76% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $170K · 23 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $110K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

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

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.