Wisconsin Association of Lakes Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391926001
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2016
Location
Madison, WI, USA
Phone
6086614313
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Reported finances

Revenue
$215,495
Expenses
$199,492
Assets
$224,839
Liabilities
$20,562

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAN BUTKUS (PRESIDENT)
  • DEREK KAVANAUGH (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL ENGLESON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL ENGLESON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $74,280 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 mission of the Wisconsin association of lakes is to conserve, enhance, and restore Wisconsin's 15,000 lakes to ensure their sustainability for the benefit and collective use and enjoyment for this and future generations.

What it reported doing in 2024

Events and educational communications: the Wisconsin association of lakes educates the public and the lakes community in particular throughout the year about basic lake ecology, shoreline management and restoration, and various threats to healthy lake ecosystems. Wisconsin lakes offers different electronic communications tools to promote this information, including the "lake connection"", an e-newsletter of general information, the "lake policy report" which covers state level policy that impacts water, and a blog and other informational posts on our website, wisconsinlakes.org.in addition, we participate in the planning and implementation of and present at several statewide conferences and conventions as part of the Wisconsin lakes & rivers partnership, a collaboration with the extension lakes program at uw-stevens point, the wi dept. Of natural resources, and other stakeholders. Events included the Wisconsin lakes & rivers convention, the northwest Wisconsin lakes conference, and the six-county north central Wisconsin lakes conference.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 71% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.6%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 89.2%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.4%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.13; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 37.2%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82.6% of revenue deployed · 89.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $178K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.