Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC
INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $316,386 to it, the largest being THE PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION ($283,100). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 90% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $394k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $316k
- Net assets
- $778k
What Independence Conservancyinc does
Mission
Preserving open space by acquisition, easement or deed restriction to protect wildlife habitat, natural and cultural resources, scenic views and quality of life; providing stewardship of watersheds in southwestern pennsylvania through environmental education, site restoration and community partnerships.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Land Stewardship:Independence Conservancy is one of PAs 90 land trusts working to preserve open space and natural places for future generations. We have protected 52 acres by conservation easement and 47 acres by fee ownership. These lands help to preserve the rural character and environmental well-being of the Raccoon Creek watershed. Preserved lands include the JB2 Abandoned Mine Discharge Treatment System near Burgettstown,PA which removes 62 tons of iron and aluminum yearly from Raccoon Creek; the Solar Mine and Treatment System near Bald Knob in Allegheny County which removes 96 tons of iron from St. Patricks Run; Red Oak Farm in Raccoon Twp., Beaver County which contains 44 acres of mature hardwood forest, open meadows and active crop land; Little Blue Wetland in Greene Twp., Beaver County which provides wildlife habitat and water quality values to the Little Blue Run Watershed; Rocky Bend Nature Preserve which contains 27 acres of riparian forest with 3/4 mile of frontage on Raccoon Creek, managed by the Independence Conservancy for low impact non-motorized public recreation. Independence Conservancy belongs to the Land Trust Alliance, a national network of nonprofit…
$318,529 spent$372,522 earned by the program97% of program spendingCommunity Tire Collections:Provide convenient and economic solution to the problem of what to do with waste tires. Since 2004 have processed and properly disposed of over 66,000 scrap tires from municipal collections in Beaver and Allegheny counties. Seven public collections are offered each year in cooperation with host municipal governments. Independence Conservancy partners with other nonprofits and local businesses to hold yearly Raccoon Creek Watershed cleanups which have netted over 280 tons of illegally dumped trash and 25,000 tires since 1999.
$3,694 spent$13,213 earned by the program1% of program spendingEnvironmental Education: Independence Conservancy conducts seasonal tours and events at Rocky Bend Nature Preserve where all are welcome to learn about trees, wildlife, watersheds,geology and local history. The Conservancy promotes passive treatment to restore streams impaired by abandoned coal mine drainage. The Conservancy offers technical assistance to local governments, industry, other nonprofits and the general public in abandoned mine reclamation techniques, stream bank restoration, riparian buffer installation, mitigation wetland construction and invasive plant control. The Conservancys website is home to the Raccoon Creek Region Conservation Plan, a blueprint for the wise use of natural resources within this 330 square mile region of Beaver, Washington and Allegheny Counties in Pennsylvania. Independence Conservancys websitealso hosts the Raccoon Creek Recovery study, a two year scientific investigation of the overall health of Raccoon Creek. The study will identify potential pojects to improve biodiversity and water quality
$5,554 spent2% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $327,777.
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 2023 to 2024, from $512k to $738k (+44%).
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.
88% of INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (88% 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
Victoria E Michaels
Executive director
Board chair
Jennifer L Fiscus
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income fell $22k → $915.
2 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 90% 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 INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 89% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
96% 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 INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 92% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 99% · 2021 84% · 2022 96% · 2023 96% — growing more concentrated.
“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.
Where its funders are
90% of INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC'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 $33k that is directly attributable, 60% of it comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $283k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 2,433 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,433 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC
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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
93% 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 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC: 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 INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC?
- INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $316,386 to it, the largest being THE PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION ($283,100). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 90% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $316,386 in grants to INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC?
- THE PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $283,100 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like INDEPENDENCE CONSERVANCYINC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 Independence Conservancyinc →
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 4 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