New York · Nonprofit
CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC
CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC (New York) receives grants from 1252 organizations whose IRS filings report $386,196,121 to it, the largest being JEWISH COMMUNAL FUND ($60,467,977). 820 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $173M
- Funders on record
- 1,252
- Grants received
- $386M
- Net assets
- $669M
What Central Park Conservancy Inc does
Mission
Organization's mission: the central park conservancy oversees all aspects of the care, maintenance and restoration of new york's most iconic public space, central park. This work allows the park's 843-acres to serve as a source of respite and relaxation, impacting the physical and mental well-being of city residents, and more than 40-million people who visit the park each year. The mission of the central park conservancy is to preserve and celebrate central park as a sanctuary from the pace and pressure of city life, enhancing the enjoyment and wellbeing of all. Our guiding principle is that central park is a masterpiece of landscape architecture created to provide a profoundly democratic space and green respite for the city and all its people and to establish new york as one of the great cities of the world. The conservancy honors its commitment to this iconic public space by applying its deep expertise in urban park management; by partnering with the community and the city of new york; and by marshalling all of the resources necessary for the park's long-term care. The conservancy's work is founded on the belief that citizen leadership and private philanthropy are key to…
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Design and construction in connection with the restoration of central park as america's foremost major urban public space. The conservancy has carried out a restoration management plan for the park, and managed the capital restoration of a number of significant landscapes and facilities.
$80,067,265 spentof which $15,781 as grants$12,851,775 earned by the program61% of program spendingAs the official manager of central park, the conservancy is responsible for the day-to-day maintenance and operation of the park. Activities include: landscape maintenance, playground maintenance, tree care, turf care, and preservation of historic monuments. The conservancy has set new standards in excellence in park care. It has transformed central park into a model for urban parks worldwide.
$44,094,572 spentof which $145,375 as grants$16,000,000 earned by the program33% of program spendingThe conservancy public programs take advantage of the invaluable resources in central park providing education, recreation, and volunteer programs that serve the community. In addition, the conservancy provides services at the following six visitor centers in the park: the davis center, charles a. Dana discovery center, north meadow recreation center, belvedere castle, dairy visitor center and gift shop, and chess and checkers house.
$7,754,530 spentof which $85,834 as grants$181,858 earned by the program6% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $131,916,367.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $389M to $502M (+29%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2022 4% · 2024 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
64% of CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (5% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Ms Elizabeth W Smith
Ex-officio (president/CEO)
Board chair
Mr Thomas L Kempner Jr
Board chair & general trustee
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 343 funders to 544 funders, grant income rose $23M → $50M.
56 of 1252 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 29% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 1252 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
31% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 43% · 2018 61% · 2019 30% · 2020 23% · 2021 21% · 2022 53% · 2023 17% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
46% of CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
71% of CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $113M arriving through sponsors registered in 22 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 12 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 12 recreation & sports nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Government funding CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $850k on record.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$850k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
73%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 47 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC?
- CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC (New York) receives grants from 1252 organizations whose IRS filings report $386,196,121 to it, the largest being JEWISH COMMUNAL FUND ($60,467,977). 820 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC have?
- IRS filings report 1252 organizations giving $386,196,121 in grants to CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC, 820 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC?
- JEWISH COMMUNAL FUND is the largest funder on record, with $60,467,977 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 1252 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing