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145 PINE HAVEN ROAD 1000D
Shelburne VT 05482-0000
Shelburne VT | IRS ruling year: 2014 | EIN: 46-4664562
Mission not available
Great
This charity's score is 95%, earning it a Four-Star rating. If this organization aligns with your passions and values, you can give with confidence.
This overall score is calculated from multiple beacon scores: 33% Accountability & Finance, 57% Impact & Results, 10% Leadership & Adaptability. Learn more about our criteria and methodology.
We recognize that not all metrics and beacons equally predict a charity’s success. The percentage each beacon contributes to the organization’s overall rating depends on the number of beacons an organization has earned.
Use the tool below to select different beacons to see how the weighting shifts when only one, two, or three beacons are earned.
Rating histories are available for a growing number of rated organizations. Check back later to see if this organization has a rating history!
One Tree Planted Inc. has earned a 85% for the Accountability & Finance beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of a charity's financial health (financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness) and its commitment to governance practices and policies.
This Accountability & Finance score represents IRS Form 990 data up until FY 2021, which is the most recent Form 990 currently available to us.
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Full Credit
Partial Credit
No Credit
Not ApplicableBoard Composition - 6/7 - 35/35 ptsBoard Composition - 6/7 - 35/35 pts
Charity Navigator looks for at least 3 board members, with more than 50% of those members identified as independent (not salaried).
The presence of an independent governing body is strongly recommended by many industry professionals to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters.
Source: IRS Form 990
Independent Audit or Financial Review - N/A - 0/0 ptsIndependent Audit or Financial Review - N/A - 0/0 pts
An Audit, Review, or Compilation provides important information about financial accountability and accuracy. Organizations are scored based on their Total Revenue Amount:
| Total Revenue Amount | Expectation to Receive Credit |
|---|---|
| $1 million or higher | Expected to complete an audit |
| $500,000 - $1 million | Expected to complete an audit, review, or compilation |
| Less than $500,000 | No expectation (removed from scoring methodology) |
Source: IRS Form 990
Conflict of Interest Policy - Listed - 5/5 ptsConflict of Interest Policy - Listed - 5/5 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a conflict of interest policy on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy protects the organization and by extension those it serves, when it is considering entering into a transaction that may benefit the private interest of an officer, director and/or key employee of the organization.
Source: IRS Form 990
Board Meeting Minutes - Documented - 5/5 ptsBoard Meeting Minutes - Documented - 5/5 pts
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990 that the organization has this process in place as an accountability and transparency measure.
An official record of the events that take place during a board meeting ensures that a contemporaneous document exists for future reference.
Source: IRS Form 990
Document Retention and Destruction - Listed - 5/5 ptsDocument Retention and Destruction - Listed - 5/5 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a document retention and destruction policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy establishes guidelines for the handling, backing up, archiving and destruction of documents. These guidelines foster good record keeping procedures that promote data integrity.
Source: IRS Form 990
Whistleblower Policy - Listed - 5/5 ptsWhistleblower Policy - Listed - 5/5 pts
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a whistleblower policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy outlines procedures for handling employee complaints, as well as a confidential way for employees to report financial or other types of mismanagement.
Source: IRS Form 990
Website - Listed - 5/5 ptsWebsite - Listed - 5/5 pts
Charity Navigator looks for a website on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency metric.
Nonprofits act in the public trust and reporting publicly on activities is an important component.
Source: IRS Form 990
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot ApplicableLiabilities to Assets Ratio - 103.52% - 0/15 ptsLiabilities to Assets Ratio - 103.52% - 0/15 pts
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent 990). This ratio is an indicator of an organization’s solvency and/or long-term sustainability.
| Liabilities to Assets Ratio | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| Less than 50% | Full Credit |
| 50% - 59.9% | Partial Credit |
| 60% or more | No Credit |
Source: IRS Form 990
Program Expense Ratio - 86.33% - 25/25 ptsProgram Expense Ratio - 86.33% - 25/25 pts
The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three 990s). This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver.
| Program Expense Percentage | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| 70% or higher | Full Credit |
| 60% - 69.9% | Partial Credit |
| 50% - 59.9% | Zero Points for Program Expense Score |
| Below 50% | Zero Points for Both Program Expense AND Liabilities to Assets Scores |
Source: IRS Form 990
No Data Available
Revenue and expense data is not available for this organization. This data is only available if this charity has at least one year of electronically-filed Form 990 data filed within the last six years.
No Data Available
Key Persons data is currently unavailable for this organization. This data is only available if this charity has at least one year of electronically-filed Form 990 data filed within the last six years.
Below are some key data points from the Exempt Organization IRS Business Master File (BMF) for this organization. Learn more about the BMF on the IRS website
Activities:
Activity data not reported from the IRS
Foundation Status:
Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (BMF foundation code: 15)
Affiliation:
Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). (BMF affiliation code: 3)
The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage finance and accountability data from it to form Encompass ratings. Click here to search for this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available). Simply enter the organization's name (One Tree Planted Inc.) or EIN (464664562) in the 'Search Term' field.
This organization was impacted by COVID-19 in a way that effected their financial health in 2020. This normally would have reduced their star rating. Due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, we give charities such as this one the opportunity to share the story of COVID's impact on them, and doing this pauses our revision of their rating. Charities may submit their own pandemic responses through their nonprofit portal.
One Tree Planted Inc. reported being impacted by COVID-19 in the following ways:
Program Delivery
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's operations financially:
Covid-19 created a significant disruption in the early stages as we had spent financial resources planning many events that had to be cancelled. This was followed by a digital strategy in our communications however with the world's attention turning towards the pandemic and the significant need for supporting health-based initiatives in the charity sector we saw a drop in donations for our environmental cause from approximately March of 2020 through early fall of that year where we began to see re-engagement from donors around the themes of sustainability and reforestation and we have continued to rebound from there.
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's delivery of programs:
The biggest impact of Covid-19 occurred near the beginning of the pandemic when we had over 50 volunteer events scheduled in the spring of 2020 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Significant resources went into planning these events and they were all cancelled. We were still able to have some limited masked events in the fall of 2020 and spring of 2021 though. Since we are a global organization with many local on-the-ground partners the impact to our broader reforestation programs was mixed. Some remote teams were still able to execute on projects as planned, some had a temporary pause in operations that were later resumed with new safety protocols, and some had longer pauses. But despite that we were still able to plant 10 million trees throughout 2020 following all local safety guidelines.
How this organization adapted to changing conditions caused by COVID-19:
We are by nature a resilient team and used to adapting to challenges. When the pandemic hit our team that was used to being together in an office went fully remote, and we used Zoom and other digital means of communication to still maintain a positive sense of internal cohesion. Our reforestation project managers for different regions around the world also stayed in close contact with implementation partners to collaborate on changing timelines, shifting resources, or other support to ensure safety as a priority and address key operational needs. We truly feel that we came out of the experience stronger and more resilient than ever.
Innovations the organization intends to continue permanently after the pandemic:
While the early stages of the pandemic created some disruption for us in terms of programs and fundraising, it also created the space to think strategically and prepare for the next phase of impact and expansion. We took this time to invest in our systems, operations, staff, and growth planning. We hired several staff members who specialize in mapping and drone technology to scale our forest monitoring programs, along with a Chief Operating Officer who helped implement quality assurance methodology and staffing structure oversight, and a finance officer to ensure that our financial structure can be on a solid foundation for 2021. While this may be considered a risk in light of some of the challenges brought on by the pandemic, our leadership utilized this unique moment to focus on the big picture and long-term vision of our organization which is now on strong footing thanks to this foresight and thoughtful planning.
One Tree Planted Inc. has earned a 100% for the Impact & Results beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon estimates the actual impact a charity has on the lives of those it serves, and determines whether it is making good use of donor resources to achieve that impact.
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Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot Applicable
Program
Global Reforestation
Activities
The program plants trees to reforest or afforest land in order to sequester carbon to avert greenhouse gas emissions.
Program Type
Afforestation and Reforestation
Beneficiaries Served
Program Geography
Time Period of Data
1/1/20 to 12/31/20
Outcomes: Changes in the lives of those served by a nonprofit. They can be caused by the nonprofit.
Costs: The money spent by a nonprofit and its partners and beneficiaries.
Impact: Outcome caused by a nonprofit relative to its cost.
Cost-effectiveness: A judgment as to whether the cost was a good use of resources to cause the outcome.
Outcome Metric
Years of personal carbon emissions offset
Outcome Data Source
Ratings are based on data the nonprofit itself collects on its work. We use the most recent year with sufficient data. Typically, this data allows us to calculate direct changes in participants' lives, such as increased income.
The nonprofit submitted data on how many hectares of land it reforested or afforested, as well as general information on the type of land on which the nonprofit planted.
Method for Attributing Outcomes
We don't know if the observed changes were caused by the nonprofit's program or something else happening at the same time (e.g., a participant got a raise). To determine causation, we take the outcomes we observe and subtract an estimate of the outcomes that would have happened even without the program (i.e., counterfactual outcomes).
We estimate the carbon stored by reforestation and afforestation programs based on the carbon that we would expect to be sequestered on the type of land on which the nonprofit plants, if the nonprofit did not run its programs. For organizations planting on cropland, we also estimate the leakage: the carbon emitted as a result of changes in land use on other land in order to meet demand for crops.
Cost Data Source
After estimating the program's outcomes, we need to determine how much it cost to achieve those outcomes. All monetary costs are counted, whether they are borne by a nonprofit service deliverer or by the nonprofit’s public and private partners.
Program cost data reported by the nonprofit. Partner and beneficiary costs reported by the nonprofit or estimated by Charity Navigator.
Cost Calculation
$12,470,062 program costs + $0 partner costs + $0 beneficiary costs = $12,470,062 total costs
We calculate impact, defined as the change in outcomes attributable to a program divided by the cost to achieve those outcomes.
Impact Calculation
$12,470,062 total costs / 85,098 years of personal carbon emissions offset = roughly $150 offsets one year of personal carbon emissions for a typical American.
Benchmark for Rating
Impact & Results scores of reforestation and afforestation programs are based on a comparison to the social cost of carbon. The social cost of carbon represents the cost to society of emitting a metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. If carbon was efficiently priced in a carbon market, our benchmark of $3888 is approximately what the typical American would pay each year to maintain their current level of emissions, in 2021 USD. Nonprofits score 100 points if they can offset the carbon emissions of a typical American for less than $2916 in 2021 USD. They score 80 points if they can do so for between $2916 (i.e. 75% of the benchmark) and $4860 (i.e. 125% of the benchmark). If a nonprofit reports impact but doesn't meet the benchmark for cost-effectiveness, it earns a score of 65.
Determination
Highly cost-effective
No 990 Program Data Found
One Tree Planted Inc. cannot currently be evaluated by our Culture & Community methodology because we have not received data from the charity regarding its Constituent Feedback or Equity Practices strategies.
Note: The absence of a score does not indicate a positive or negative assessment, it only indicates that we have not yet evaluated the organization.
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One Tree Planted Inc. has earned a 100% for the Leadership & Adaptability beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of the organization's leadership capacity, strategic thinking and planning, and ability to innovate or respond to changes in constituent demand/need or other relevant social and economic conditions to achieve the organization's mission.
Learn more
Full CreditPartial CreditNo CreditNot ApplicableMission - 10/10 ptsMission - 10/10 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization's mission
One Tree Planted is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit on a mission to make it simple for anyone to help the environment by planting trees. Our projects span the globe and are done in partnership with local communities and knowledgeable experts to create an impact for nature, people, and wildlife. Reforestation helps to rebuild forests after fires and floods, provide jobs for social impact, and restore biodiversity. Many projects have overlapping objectives, creating a combination of benefits that contribute to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Vision - 10/10 ptsVision - 10/10 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s vision.
We envision a world full of healthy forests, and strive to align our daily organizational work towards this mission by uniting diverse donors with reforestation initiatives. Through engagement with local communities, nurseries, tree experts, and other key stakeholders we are able to implement a collective impact that gradually restores forests around the world. From planting mangroves in India for climate resilience to pines throughout the US for forest fire recovery, we are restoring a wide range of priceless landscapes.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Goals - 20/20 ptsGoals - 20/20 pts
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: Implement quality reforestation projects for long-term ecological & social benefit
Goal Type: Focus on core programs to achieve mission and scale back on programs not seen as core.
Goal Two: Scale our global impact with local partnerships & innovative technology
Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.
Goal Three: Grow and nurture an incredible staff of passionate professionals
Goal Type: Invest in the capacity of our organization (financial, management, technical, etc.).
Leadership Development - 15/15 ptsLeadership Development - 15/15 pts
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development
One Tree Planted continuously invests in leadership & professional development for staff through a culture of initiative and clear ownership of each person’s role. We regularly cover costs for attendance to conferences, online events, training sessions, or workshops to help elevate different team members’ ability to perform better at their work. When new job openings come up, we first evaluate the potential of promoting existing staff. Our executives work directly with individuals to help elevate their value and leadership. We also require regular presentations across core departments and then full-day sessions for many to present and others to listen. This motivates individuals to deliver results and develop the ability to communicate accomplishments & strategies in clear, succinct, well-designed ways. We have many projects where non-manager staff take leadership roles. This helps build confidence, equity since it spans any title or role, and shows who can rise to the occasion.
Mobilizing for Mission - 15/15 ptsMobilizing for Mission - 15/15 pts
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
Strategic Partnerships
Networks of Collective Impact Efforts
Thought Leadership
Raising Awareness
Community Building
Our external mobilization effort include a complex range of communications from organic content, to social media, to paid advertising. We also conduct many in-person tree planting events to engage local communities in the hands-on work of reforestation. We also engage with interested parties daily through an awesome donor support team. We conduct outreach to provide proposals and make introductions to potentially large donors. And we have a large network of supporting donors, business partners, reforestation partners, schools/teachers/students and much more in a good hybrid between in-person and digital events and support. We have also grown enough to have a wide range of businesses sharing our mission with their communities, which further helps mobilize additional donations.
Adaptability Story - 30/30 ptsAdaptability Story - 30/30 pts
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
Covid-19 posed the biggest challenge for us in 2020. We had over 50 volunteer events scheduled in the spring of 2020 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, all of which were cancelled. We adapted by quickly switching to a digital communication strategy creating ways for our community to still benefit their local environment from home. This included an inspiring video campaign and many digital resources. Afterwards we were also able to still have some limited masked events in the fall of 2020 and spring of 2021. Additional external challenges include limited seed supply, which we are addressing through deeper engagement with tree nurseries. And a demand in the marketplace for carbon verification, which we are adapting to through partnerships that will allow us to have more offerings or custom project development.
Impact & Results
Accountability & Finance
Culture & Community
Leadership & Adaptability
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