Colorado · Nonprofit
CONSERVATION LEGACY
CONSERVATION LEGACY (Colorado) receives grants from 81 organizations whose IRS filings report $37,212,144 to it, the largest being COLORADO YOUTH CORPS ASSOCIATION ($7,986,917). 45 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $57M
- Funders on record
- 81
- Grants received
- $37M
- Net assets
- $17M
What Conservation Legacy does
Mission
Conservation Legacy engages future leaders who protect, restore, and enhance our nation's lands through community-based service.in 2024, Conservation Legacy engaged 2,524 participants who completed over 1.5 million service hours on public land and in communities nationwide. Participants engaged in education, training and workforce development. Projects highlights include the improvement of over 500,000 acres of land, and construction and maintenance of over 1,000 miles of trails.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Stewards individual placements - stewards individual placement program provides individuals with service and career opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve our natural resources. Participants work with federal agencies, tribal governments, and nonprofits building institutional capacity, developing community relationships, and supporting ecosystem health. In 2024, the stewards program completed 1,390,852 hours of service, which included the improvement of 374,232 acres of land.
$17,253,469 spent$686,548 earned by the program35% of program spendingSouthwest conservation corps (scc) operates conservation service programs across southern colorado and northern new mexico that engage youth, young adults and veterans on public lands. Scc works to foster inclusive opportunities and collaborative partnerships for positive growth through development of knowledge, leadership, and compassion towards our lands and communities. In 2024, scc completed 218,557 hours of service, improved 5,802 acres of land, 28,539 acres were mapped/surveyed and 353 miles of trail were maintained/constructed.
$8,262,654 spent$1,883,245 earned by the program17% of program spendingAncestral lands conservation corps (alcc) operates programs around the country though primarily focused on new mexico and arizona. The program's vision is to lead indigenous nations back to ecological and cultural well-being by engaging underrepresented indigenous youth and young adults in conservation service programs that reconnect participants to the land, their cultural heritage, and their traditions. In 2024, alcc completed 155,120 hours of service, improved 4,007 acres of land and maintained or created 80 miles of trail.
$7,244,816 spent$1,283,389 earned by the program15% of program spendingArizona conservation corps (azcc) operates programs across arizona engaging individuals and strengthening communities through service and conservation. Azcc is focused on connecting youth, young adults and recent era military veterans with conservation service work projects on public lands. In 2024, azcc completed 149,475 hours of service, improved 33,154 acres of land and maintained or created 360 miles of trail.
$5,452,074 spent$623,080 earned by the program11% of program spendingAppalachian conservation corps (acc) operates programs across virginia, west virginia, and ohio engaging individuals and strengthening communities through service and conservation. Acc is focused on connecting youth and young adults with conservation service work projects on public lands. In 2024, acc completed 123,705 hours of service, improved 1,740 acres of land and maintained or created 419 miles of trail.
$3,794,190 spent$529,411 earned by the program8% of program spendingConservation corps new mexico (ccnm) operates programs across new mexico and west texas engaging individuals and strengthening communities through service and conservation. Ccnm is focused on connecting youth and young adults with conservation service work projects on public lands. In 2024, ccnm completed 88,034 hours of service, improved 2,518 acres of land and maintained or created 357 miles of trail.
$2,995,568 spent$55,200 earned by the program6% of program spendingConervation corps north carolina (ccnc) operates programs primarily in north carolina engaging individuals and strengthening communities through service and conservation. Ccnc is focused on connecting youth and young adults with conservation service work projects on public lands. In 2024, secc completed 53,615 hours of service, improved 75,000 acres of land and maintained or created 91 miles of trail.
$2,116,700 spent$516,364 earned by the program4% of program spendingSoutheast conservation corps (secc) operates programs across tennessee and the surrounding states engaging individuals and strengthening communities through service and conservation. Secc is focused on connecting youth and young adults with conservation service work projects on public lands. In 2024, secc completed 61,236 hours of service, improved 26,105 acres of land and maintained or created 94 miles of trail.
$1,920,053 spent$176,943 earned by the program4% of program spending
The 8 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $49,039,524.
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 2022 to 2023, from $16M to $20M (+21%).
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: 2017 81% · 2018 80% · 2019 78% · 2020 83% · 2021 80% · 2022 77% · 2023 64% · 2024 68%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
90% of CONSERVATION LEGACY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (78% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 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
April Elkins Badtke
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 37 funders, grant income rose $1.9M → $6.4M.
13 of 81 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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 CONSERVATION LEGACY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 81 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
CONSERVATION LEGACY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
93% 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 CONSERVATION LEGACY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 35% · 2018 30% · 2019 38% · 2020 45% · 2021 24% · 2022 31% · 2023 26% — 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
42% of CONSERVATION LEGACY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
CONSERVATION LEGACY draws 72% of its grant income from funders outside Colorado, across 21 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
CONSERVATION LEGACY runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 203 youth development nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 203 youth development nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding CONSERVATION LEGACY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $335.4M on record.
- Department of the Interior$188.9M
- Department of Agriculture$105.6M
- Corporation for National and Community Service$40.9M
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 CONSERVATION LEGACY
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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
92% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 7 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CONSERVATION LEGACY: 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 CONSERVATION LEGACY?
- CONSERVATION LEGACY (Colorado) receives grants from 81 organizations whose IRS filings report $37,212,144 to it, the largest being COLORADO YOUTH CORPS ASSOCIATION ($7,986,917). 45 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CONSERVATION LEGACY have?
- IRS filings report 81 organizations giving $37,212,144 in grants to CONSERVATION LEGACY, 45 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CONSERVATION LEGACY?
- COLORADO YOUTH CORPS ASSOCIATION is the largest funder on record, with $7,986,917 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CONSERVATION LEGACY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. 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 Conservation Legacy →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 81 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