Massachusetts · Nonprofit
EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC
EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 112 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,793,379 to it, the largest being FIDELITY FOUNDATION ($2,950,000). 77 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.3M
- Funders on record
- 112
- Grants received
- $17M
- Net assets
- $11M
What Emerald Necklace Conservancy Inc does
Mission
To restore and improve the emerald necklace for all.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Advocacy and community engagement - the conservancy continues to advocate for several important projects and initiatives throughout the emerald necklace, including white stadium in historic franklin park, the charlesgate revitalization project, shattuck hospital and community engagement in parkland planning and decision making, arborway safety improvements, muddy river restoration phase ii project, advocating for increased local, state and federal investments in parks maintenance and capital improvements, and continued to advocate for the development of systematic guidelines that could apply to development citywide.
$1,548,400 spent43% of program spendingCharlesgate project - charlesgate park, located at the intersection of boston's back bay, fenway and kenmore neighborhoods, was designed by frederick law olmsted as a critical link to connect the emerald necklace, charles river esplanade and the commonwealth avenue mall. Our proposed design for charlesgate will rebuild and expand a people-friendly and regional pathway network, restoring connections between the emerald necklace, charles river esplanade and commonwealth mall for the first time in more than five decades. When complete, this restored system will allow direct walking and cycling connections between locations as distant as boston's north station, charlestown, dorchester, cambridge and watertown.
$709,897 spentof which $406,100 as grants20% of program spendingMaintenance, restoration and preservation - the emerald necklace conservancy advocates for and conserves the emerald necklace through projects and programs to restore and renew the landscape, waterways and parkways of the olmsted-designed park system. The conservancy brings together the many public and private park partners to prioritize, fund and implement restoration initiatives throughout the park system. In conjunction with public and private partners, organizes and implements maintenance initiatives to preserve the naturalistic beauty of olmsted's parks as well as maintain the gardens and pathways. In fy 2024 the conservancy began the second seven year cycle of pruning the inventory; the conservancy pruned 715 trees in olmsted park which will keep the trees and park healthy and safe for years to come. In the back bay fens area, a pruning project took take place in fy 2025.
$535,803 spent15% of program spendingCommunity programs - the conservancy continues to partner with organizations hosting events in the parks to offer more opportunities for inclusive programming elements like american sign-language ("asl") interpretation, bipoc-led musical performances, and signage in multiple languages. Youth programs - the conservancy's green team is a summer youth environmental career exploration program which provides environmental education, leadership training and real work experience in the parks during an intensive six weeks through a partnership with the boston office of youth employment and opportunity. Participants regularly worked in various emerald necklace parks maintaining the landscape; took field trips and educational tours within the necklace and beyond; participated in an anti-bullying and inclusion workshop; explored career pathways in environmental fields with the usda forest service and arnold arboretum professional staff; participated in team building, and career soft-skills development activities. Canopy classroom is a place-based, environmental education program that is consistent with boston public school curriculum and state standards. The field-trip program held in…
$777,362 spent22% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,571,462.
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 $7.0M to $9.9M (+41%).
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 3% · 2020 7% · 2021 6% · 2022 1% · 2023 6% · 2024 1% · 2025 15%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (13% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Taylor Benjamin
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 32 funders to 54 funders, grant income rose $592k → $3.5M.
18 of 112 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 38% 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 EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 112 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
EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
61% 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 EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 44% · 2018 35% · 2019 35% · 2020 21% · 2021 26% · 2022 42% · 2023 35% — 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
44% of EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% 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
93% of EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $6.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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
EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 1,767 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,767 recreation & sports nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.1M on record — $282k federal, $817k state.
- Department of Agriculture$282k
- (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$817k
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 EMERALD NECKLACE 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
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
68%
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 EMERALD NECKLACE 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 EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC?
- EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 112 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,793,379 to it, the largest being FIDELITY FOUNDATION ($2,950,000). 77 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC have?
- IRS filings report 112 organizations giving $16,793,379 in grants to EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC, 77 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of EMERALD NECKLACE CONSERVANCY INC?
- FIDELITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,950,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like EMERALD NECKLACE 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.
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 112 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