Tennessee · Nonprofit
HARPETH CONSERVANCY
HARPETH CONSERVANCY (Tennessee) receives grants from 65 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,348,087 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ($849,522). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.9M
- Funders on record
- 65
- Grants received
- $3.3M
- Net assets
- $1.5M
What Harpeth Conservancy does
Mission
To restore and protect clean water and healthy ecosystems for rivers in tennessee by employing scientific expertise and collaborative relationships to develop, promote, and support broad community stewardship and action.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The watershed science & restoration program provides the scientific foundation for Harpeth Conservancy's work. Through a combination of expert-driven studies, citizen-science monitoring, and promoting a coordinated approach throughout the region, this program provides the data necessary to evaluate the biological and physical condition of our rivers and streams. Our scientific work becomes the basis of conservation planning, informing the areas and approaches where we can maximize impact. Part of that impact comes through implementing on-the-ground projects to improve water quality and restore wildlife habitat. From large-scale dam removal and green infrastructure projects to volunteer driven riparian reforestation, we work with state agencies, cities, farmers, and community leaders to build a multifaceted approach to restoring natural river flows, reducing erosion, and limiting pollution entering our waterways.
$308,642 spent$1,174 earned by the program32% of program spendingThe clean water protection program advances the regulatory and policy solutions necessary to protect and improve water quality in tennessee. This program works to establish scientifically based policy that improves water quality, including water withdrawal permits that leave sufficient flow for wildlife, nutrient pollution limits that restore natural water chemistry, and stormwater regulations that reduce erosion. We are actively pursuing and defending regulatory systems that protect the health of humans and wildlife by working with state agencies and local governments, organizing statewide coalitions, and building local citizen engagement. The effort to set limits on the amount of nutrient pollution entering the harpeth is the most advanced in the state, and we strive to make this a model for rivers throughout the southeastern us.
$347,221 spentof which $1,889 as grants$1,174 earned by the program36% of program spendingThe outreach, education, & recreation program creates opportunities to foster awareness of issues affecting freshwater resources and appreciation for the incredible diversity of species found in the region. This program works with civic organizations, community groups, and individuals to build the local support and involvement necessary to achieve our mission of protecting rivers and clean water. Through educational events with local youth programs, awareness campaigns, and providing information on ways individuals can help, we hope to inspire personal activism and develop community leaders. We view recreation as an avenue to building strong environmental stewards, and work to promote access to rivers by developing blueways and partnering with local outfitters to demonstrate responsible use of our resources.
$308,642 spentof which $33,023 as grants$1,174 earned by the program32% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $964,505.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 2024 to 2025, from $947k to $1.7M (+84%).
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: 2021 13% · 2022 4% · 2023 0% · 2024 0% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
119% of HARPETH CONSERVANCY’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. 1 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
Grace Stranch
CEO
Board chair
Courtney Laginess
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 28 funders, grant income rose $81k → $243k.
16 of 65 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 45% 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 HARPETH CONSERVANCY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 65 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
HARPETH CONSERVANCY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
47% 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 HARPETH CONSERVANCY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 19% · 2018 61% · 2019 39% · 2020 34% · 2021 36% · 2022 26% · 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
63% of HARPETH CONSERVANCY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 66% 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
77% of HARPETH CONSERVANCY's grant income comes from Tennessee funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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
HARPETH CONSERVANCY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,209 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,209 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like HARPETH CONSERVANCY
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 Tennessee
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
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 HARPETH CONSERVANCY: 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 HARPETH CONSERVANCY?
- HARPETH CONSERVANCY (Tennessee) receives grants from 65 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,348,087 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC ($849,522). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does HARPETH CONSERVANCY have?
- IRS filings report 65 organizations giving $3,348,087 in grants to HARPETH CONSERVANCY, 43 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of HARPETH CONSERVANCY?
- THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC is the largest funder on record, with $849,522 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HARPETH CONSERVANCY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Tennessee. 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 2018–2025), and the filings of 65 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