Massachusetts · Nonprofit
CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC
CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 72 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,283,364 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($962,725). 46 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 52% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.1M
- Funders on record
- 72
- Grants received
- $3.3M
- Net assets
- $1.3M
What Charles River Conservancy Inc does
Mission
The conservancy works to amplify community voice and catalyze bold solutions, to make the lower charles river and its parks more vibrant, healthy and welcoming now and in the future. Our works aligns with 3 "c"s: connect organizations, people and communities to each other and the river and its parks. Create bold, impactful solutions that elevate and strengthen the river and its parks as an essential ecological foundation and cultural asset for greater boston. Celebrate the river and its parks and the intersection of people and nature to inspire involvement.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Conservancy volunteers - this program organizes approximately 2,000 volunteers annually to steward the charles river reservation. Projects include invasive species management and planting of native species (to both address erosion and support biodiversity), litter removal (to support a healthier ecosystem),leaf removal (to address nutrient pollution) and painting of benches and railings (to increase the life of park infrastructure).
$122,541 spent19% of program spendingCharles river floating wetland - through the installation and maintenance of a human-made island of wetland plants, this project is expanding the tools available to support a resilient urban river and is increasing the community's understanding of local ecosystems. Through research that has included 3 years of water quality monitoring and a fish camera, this floating wetland is providing insights into how these installations can benefit aquatic ecosystems. Through youth programming and community outreach, including build-your-own-wetland kits and kayak tours, the project is also a platform for experiental environmental education.
$62,815 spent10% of program spendingLynch family skatepark art program - after leading the design and construction of the lynch family skatepark (which opened in 2015 and is now owned and managed by the state), the crc has embarked on a community-led design process to support the social and physical infrastructure of the park, which will culminate in public artwork that celebrates park users and invites new audiences to the riverfront.
$148,856 spent23% of program spendingAll other programs - the charles river conservancy strives to make the charles river and its parks a well-maintained network of natural urban places that invite and engage all in their use and stewardship. In addition to the programs discussed in 4a-c, our work seeks to increase engagement with, access to and understanding of these public natural resources through a variety of other programming, advocacy and outreach.
$316,420 spent49% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $650,632.
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 2017 to 2018, from $670k to $1.1M (+62%).
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: 2020 11% · 2021 22% · 2022 10% · 2025 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Board chair
Lonsdale G Koester
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 23 funders to 33 funders, grant income rose $296k → $362k.
12 of 72 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 52% 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 CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 72 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
CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 29% 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
53% 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 CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 34% · 2018 32% · 2019 48% · 2020 30% · 2021 28% · 2022 28% · 2023 27% — 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
50% of CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
52% of CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $1.6M that is directly attributable, 84% of it comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC's revenue grew 66% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,074 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $7k on record.
- (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$7k
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 CHARLES RIVER 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CHARLES RIVER 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 CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC?
- CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 72 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,283,364 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($962,725). 46 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 52% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC have?
- IRS filings report 72 organizations giving $3,283,364 in grants to CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC, 46 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $962,725 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CHARLES RIVER CONSERVANCY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Charles River Conservancy →
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 72 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing