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Cobscook Community Learning Center

EIN 01-0449348 · Trescott Twp, ME

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthFair50 out of 100GovernanceStrong100 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

See Schedule O.

Income
$1.1 million
Spending
$1.2 million
Spent on programs
79%
Reserves
-1.7 months of spending
Largest source of income
donations and private grants, 57%
Employees
24
Highest pay
$69,856, co-executive director

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Financial health

Fair: 50 out of 100.

  • Reserves

    0 of 35

    Spendable reserves are negative: it owes or has committed more than it holds.

  • Debt

    16 of 20

    It owes 18% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    4 of 15

    Spending exceeded income by 9% of income.

  • Income trend

    15 of 15

    Income rose 56% on the year before.

  • Spending floor

    15 of 15

    79% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Governance

Strong: 100 out of 100.

  • Independent board

    25 of 25

    10 of 10 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    8 of 8

    Has a written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    7 of 7

    Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    10 of 10

    Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • Pay set independently

    5 of 5

    Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.

  • Independent check of accounts

    15 of 15

    Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.

  • No reported misuse

    10 of 10

    Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Impact evidence

Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.

Programs described in its return (3)
  1. $275,227 spent. Retreats Community Programs Cobscook Center serves as a hub and homeplace for community responsive, trauma-informed, and welcoming retreats and community programs. Community programs are informed by the interest and needs of community members and are in service of individual, community, and global wellbeing. Intergenerational learning include programs in movement, arts, crafts, local ecology and culture, sustainability community resilience. Cobscook and its partners leverage the Center, its gathering spaces, community kitchen, art studios, 53-bed Heartwood Lodge, and 50-acres of wildland as the home base for immersion learning, field studies, and retreats.
  2. $244,645 spent. Cobscook Experiential Programs offers experiential, place-based education, outdoor leadership, and practical skill-building programs grounded in the ecology and cultures of the Cobscook Bay region and in a positive social/emotional setting. The signature program is a 4-year high school program offered in partnership with the Calais School Department. CEP is relational and experiential and leverages interdisciplinary, outdoor education and place-based pedagogies as transformative pathways for learning and engagement. Students participate in expeditions, community service projects, fieldwork with local experts and knowledge keepers, and individualized, small-group, and hands-on learning. These approaches are responsive to the needs of the youth, center student voice, and strengthen both personal and community wellbeing. CEP programming also includes a full slate of synergistic summer and afterschool programs.
  3. $452,876 spent. Heartwood Programs, TREE, Access/Scholarship Fund, Development Fund, Capital Construction Fund These programs and services facilitate programs that are rooted in equity and access with a commitment towards individual, community, and global wellbeing. They sustain a thriving, accessible, and generative campus that serves as a hub and homeplace for Cobscooks programming. See Schedule O for more in-depth program descriptions. The Scholarship and Access Funds facilitate sliding scale programming in a solidarity economy framework, reducing the barrier to participation for people from Cobscook Bay region/Passamaquoddy homeland. This community funding model creates a way for community members to share so that everyone gets what they need. Participants choose how they engage with the sliding scale if they have fewer financial resources, they wont miss out on opportunities if they have more, they can share that abundance with neighbors and know that its making a difference. TREE Trauma Responsive Equitable Education is a collaborative, place-based response to the educational challenges that often face rural schools and communities, especially those in high-poverty areas. TREE aims to foster resilience and improve the well-being of young people, their families, and communities, by addressing the predictable and recurring barriers to healthy youth development and engaged learning that exist in high poverty rural schools. Through facilitating research-practice partnerships, TREE contributes to learning and systems change not only for the Cobscook region, but for rural communities around the country and globe.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Legitimacy checks

  1. Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.

    Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  2. Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.

    Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.

    Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.

  3. Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.

    On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

    Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.

  4. Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.

    Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since March 1990.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  6. Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.

    Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.

    Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.

Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.