Green Mountain Conservation Group

What Green Mountain Conservation Group does

Green Mountain Conservation Group (GMCG) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1997 and headquartered in Effingham, New Hampshire, whose mission is to protect the lakes, rivers, groundwater, aquifer, land, and associated natural resources of the greater Ossipee Watershed. Organized around a four-pillar methodology (Research, Education, Advocacy, Land Conservation), GMCG operates citizen science monitoring programs (VBAP macroinvertebrate surveys in their 19th year, microplastics detection since 2021, eDNA sampling), K-12 educational initiatives (GET WET! groundwater testing and Trout in the Classroom, both since 2009), advocacy on land-use and water protection issues, and direct land conservation through the GMCG Natural Area. The organization serves watershed residents on private wells, school children and teachers (41 schools in Maine and New Hampshire since 2019), municipal officials in six primary watershed towns, landowners, lake associations, and local businesses.

GMCG is supported by a diversified mix of foundation grants (nine named private foundations), state and federal government funding (NH Department of Environmental Services, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Institute of Nursing Research), corporate sponsorships, municipal contributions from the six watershed towns, individual donations, and fundraising events including the annual Polar Plunge and online auction. Programs are delivered free of charge to participants via school partnerships, library programs, community workshops, and volunteer networks. AmeriCorps members hosted through Lakes Region Conservation Corps historically contributed nearly 4,000 service hours annually. The 2024 executive director transition (Matt Howe succeeded by Nancy Ritger in December 2024) and the April 2025 federal AmeriCorps termination — which eliminated nearly half of GMCG's operational staff — represent the most material recent operational events.

GMCG's competitive position rests on its role as the long-standing regional repository for Ossipee Watershed water quality data, its relationships across municipal, school, and conservation networks, and its recognized citizen science programs. Geographic concentration in the Ossipee Watershed and acute dependence on AmeriCorps staffing, foundation grant cycles, and state funding represent the principal operational risks.

Name

Green Mountain Conservation Group

Legal name

Green Mountain Conservation Group

Website

https://gmcg.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Green Mountain Conservation Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1997 in Effingham, New Hampshire that conducts citizen science water quality monitoring, K-12 environmental education, land conservation, and advocacy to protect the Ossipee Watershed's lakes, rivers, groundwater, and aquifer across six New Hampshire towns.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Conservation Services

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312)

akta.pro primary industry

Water Resources & Watershed Protection (BPAGAGAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Land Trusts & Protected Areas (BPAGAGAC), Environmental Education & Outreach (BPAGAGAH), Marine & Freshwater Conservation (BPAGAGAE)

Keywords

• Watershed conservation services
• Water quality monitoring
• Citizen science education
• Land conservation easements
• Groundwater protection research

Headquarters

HQ city

Effingham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Foundation and Grant Funding: Grants from foundations including Adelard & Valeda Lea Roy Foundation, Captain Planet Foundation, Davis Foundation, Dorr Foundation, Lakes Region Charitable Foundation, Little Family Foundation, NH Charitable Foundation, Quimby Foundation, and government programs including NH Department of Environmental Services and Natural Resource Conservation Services
2. Corporate and Business Sponsorships: Local and regional business donations and sponsorships for events and programs, including Patagonia, Attitash, numerous local businesses, and annual sponsors for Polar Plunge and other events
3. Municipal Contributions: Support from the six watershed towns: Effingham, Freedom, Madison, Ossipee, Sandwich, and Tamworth
4. Online Auctions: Annual online auction for watershed protection raising over $10,000 to support programs
5. Polar Plunge Fundraising: Annual polar plunge event with individual donations, pledges, and sponsorships raising over $20,000 in 2025
6. Donations and Membership: Individual donations, corporate giving, car and shoe donations, stock donations, and general charitable contributions from supporters

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Green Mountain Conservation Group is a regional nonprofit that protects the lakes, rivers, groundwater, aquifer, and associated natural resources of the greater Ossipee Watershed through four integrated programs: Research (water quality monitoring, microplastics and eDNA studies), Education (GET WET!, VBAP, Trout in the Classroom), Advocacy (non-confrontational policy and regulatory work, public awareness campaigns), and Land Conservation (easement acquisition and land management). All programs are delivered free of charge to schools, landowners, watershed residents, and municipal partners across primarily six New Hampshire towns.

Product overview

Green Mountain Conservation Group is a nonprofit conservation organization offering a portfolio of citizen science, education, and advocacy programs focused on protecting water resources in the Ossipee Watershed. The core offerings include: GET WET! (well water testing education since 2009), VBAP (biological water quality monitoring since 2005), and Trout in the Classroom (aquatic education since 2009). Supporting research programs include microplastics analysis, eDNA monitoring, and ongoing water quality data collection across lakes and streams. The organization also runs public awareness campaigns (Salt Responsibly), publishes the quarterly Watershed News newsletter, and provides land conservation services. Programs are delivered through school partnerships, volunteer engagement, community events, and AmeriCorps member support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• GET WET! (Groundwater Education Through Water Evaluation and Testing) Citizen science education program teaching local students and community members about groundwater and well water quality, including drinking water contaminants, well testing, and water safety. Delivered through schools and libraries free of charge.
• Volunteer Biological Assessment Program (VBAP) Annual citizen science water quality monitoring program in which students collect aquatic macroinvertebrates to assess river and stream health, engaging kindergarten through 6th graders across multiple schools in biomonitoring using macroinvertebrates as water quality indicators.
• Trout in the Classroom School-based program where students raise brook trout from eggs and release them into streams they studied through VBAP, connecting water quality monitoring to ecosystem health indicators.
• Microplastics Research Research program analyzing water samples for microplastics (microfibers, micro fragments, and microbeads) in rivers and streams across the Ossipee Watershed.
• eDNA (Environmental DNA) Research Scientific research program using environmental DNA sampling methods to monitor biodiversity and species presence in local waterways within the Ossipee Watershed.
• Water Quality Monitoring (Rivers and Lake Programs) Ongoing water quality monitoring across Ossipee Lake, Broad Bay, Leavitt Bay, Berry Bay, Danforth Ponds, Round Pond, Loon Lake, and 28 rivers and streams, including temperature logging, chemistry sampling, deep water testing, and long-term data collection serving as the regional repository for Ossipee Watershed water quality data.
• Land Conservation Services Land and conservation easement acquisition and management to protect water resources, forests, wildlife habitat, agricultural land, and recreation areas within the Ossipee Watershed, including stewardship of the GMCG Natural Area.

Quantifiable outcome

• Three rivers scored 'Excellent' and one 'Good' for water quality in 2024 VBAP monitoring
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Appalachian Mountain ClubminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 April 2026Partnership for Pollinator Week BioBlitz 2026, combining conservation efforts to document pollinator species across the Ossipee Watershed and beyond through citizen science on iNaturalist platform.
• Chocorua Lake ConservancyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 March 2026Collaborative partnership for Big Night Salamander Crossing Brigade and other conservation initiatives in the Chocorua Lake Basin and Saco Watershed.
• Tin Mountain Conservation CenterminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 March 2026Partnership for Big Night Salamander Crossing Brigade program, encouraging area residents to participate in citizen science amphibian monitoring and road crossing safety.
• Lakes Region Conservation Corps (LRCC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 January 2026AmeriCorps host site partnership where LRCC places full-time and part-time service members at GMCG to support water quality monitoring and educational programming. Currently hosting two full-term members and previously hosted two half-term members, contributing nearly 4,000 service hours annually.
• MDI Biological LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 January 2025Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) collaboration on All About Arsenic+ project, engaging schools in Maine and New Hampshire in collecting drinking water samples and testing for toxic metals including arsenic, uranium, manganese, and lead. Project initiated in 2015 by MDIBL and Dartmouth College's Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program.
• NH Department of Environmental ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 January 2025Ongoing partnership for drinking water programs, GET WET! program support, and All About Arsenic+ project collaboration. NHDES provides funding through the National Institute of Nursing Research and coordinates with private well coordinators to deliver well water safety education in schools.
• UNH Cooperative ExtensionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for water resources research and education, referenced in strategic plan and funding acknowledgments.
• NH Fish and Game DepartmentminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual Trout in the Classroom training and program coordination, with NH Fish and Game distributing trout egg permits and overseeing program statewide.
• NH LAKESminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStatewide lake association partnership for advocacy, legislative action network, and lake-friendly initiatives including cyanobacteria mitigation efforts.
• The Ossipee Aquifer: A Story of Water PartnershipminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreative collaboration with Chocorua Lake Conservancy, Cook Memorial Library, and Yeoman's Fund for the Arts to create a crankie graphic novel about aquifer protection.
• Ossipee Lake AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative advocacy partnership on water quality issues including Loon Island dock controversy and Leavitt Bay permit appeals.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Appalachian Mountain Club: A large, established regional conservation and outdoor recreation organization in the Northeast. Most directly comparable as the prior employer of GMCG's current ED and as a current BioBlitz partner; shares a regional conservation and education footprint but at significantly greater scale and scope than GMCG.
• NH Department of Environmental Services (NHDES): The NH state agency overseeing environmental protection, including drinking water, water quality, and conservation programs. Comparable as a funder/partner of GMCG's well-water programs and as a broader regulator in the same water-quality domain.
• UNH Cooperative Extension: University-affiliated extension service delivering water-resources research, education, and outreach across New Hampshire. Comparable as a public-sector/educational provider of water-quality programming; cited by GMCG as an academic partner, but operates at significantly broader scale with public funding.

Direct peers

• NH LAKES: New Hampshire's statewide lake association focused on lake protection, advocacy, and lake-friendly initiatives. Directly comparable as a partner organization tackling cyanobacteria and water-quality issues across NH; both operate as advocacy-focused nonprofits engaging lake users.
• Tin Mountain Conservation Center: A regional nonprofit conservation center in Albany, NH delivering environmental education, citizen science, and conservation programs in the White Mountain/MV region. Most directly comparable to GMCG in mission, programming (school programs, citizen science, conservation), and small-staff nonprofit operating model; explicitly cited as a GMCG partner.
• Ossipee Lake Alliance: A lake association operating in the same Ossipee Watershed as GMCG, focused on water quality and lake protection advocacy. Directly comparable as a community-driven, watershed-overlapping peer; explicitly cited as a GMCG collaborative advocacy partner on Leavitt Bay permit appeals and dock controversies.
• Chocorua Lake Conservancy: A water-focused land trust protecting the Chocorua Lake Basin and Saco Watershed in NH through land conservation and water-quality advocacy. Directly comparable to GMCG for watershed-based conservation, citizen science, and Salamander Crossing Brigade partnership work.

Regional players

• Deschutes River Conservancy: A watershed-focused nonprofit performing streamflow restoration, water-quality monitoring, and citizen science in Oregon's Deschutes Basin. Directly analogous to GMCG in mission (watershed protection), rural-watershed footprint, and citizen-science monitoring model; differs in serving a different geography.
• Lakes Region Conservation Corps (LRCC): An AmeriCorps host program placing service members with conservation organizations in the Lakes Region of NH. Directly comparable as GMCG's AmeriCorps pipeline partner (LRCC placed ~4,000 service hours at GMCG); now highly relevant given the recent AmeriCorps termination affecting both organizations.

Emerging players

• Nature Abounds: A small national nonprofit enabling community-based conservation through citizen-science and stewardship programming. Analogous to GMCG as a small, grassroots, citizen-science nonprofit pursuing water and natural-resource conservation; differs by operating at national rather than watershed scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xfacebook.com/greenmountainconservationgroup
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@greenmountainconservationgroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/green-mountain-conservation-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Green Mountain Conservation Group