Illinois · Nonprofit
JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC
JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC (Illinois) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,351,479 to it, the largest being Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation ($3,074,682). 23 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.4M
- Funders on record
- 32
- Grants received
- $8.4M
- Net assets
- $26M
What Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation Inc does
Mission
Jdcf works to preserve and steward land and water for the lasting well-being of all people and wildlife.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Stewardship and public access: in any given year these services make up the largest annual program expense for jdcf. Labor and equipment comprise the bulk of these program services for the care, maintenance and ecological restoration of thousands of acres of property held in public trust for the benefit of all people and wildlife in nw illinois. In 2025, jdcf's driftless stewardship initiative (dsi) program was wound down. Of the more than 2,000 acres that jdcf owns, approximately 1,500 acres with over 60 miles of trails are open to the public for passive recreation and educational experiences, including two partner preserves. In 2025, we estimate over 25,000 people visited our preserves. Our dedicated team of restoration specialists acquired a new sure trac trailer and atv through an ildnr grant. Revenue for stewardship totaled approximately $432,000; donor contributions totaled $68,756.
$802,498 spent$87,169 earned by the program61% of program spendingEducational services: in 2025, jdcf continued making deep connections with indigenous tribes (who formerly called jo daviess county home), specifically the ho-chunk (and winnebago) nations and the sac and fox nation of oklahoma. In collaboration with these groups, jdcf is at the beginning of a long-term learning journey with an end goal of providing education and outreach opportunities for listening, learning, and celebrating the heritage of the land it preserves and stewards. Our education department added one new staff member in 2025 and launched the mighty acorns program bringing conservation education that meets state education standards into local school classrooms. Delivering jdcf's education and outreach services depends on partnerships with community organizations, support from a robust volunteer corps of over 50 volunteers, and support from local businesses and grants from private giving foundations. Grants, individual and local business partner contributions totaled approximately $90,000.
$283,868 spent$5,945 earned by the program22% of program spendingLand preservation: jdcf preserves land in two distinct ways, conservation easements and acquisitions. Donor contributions totaled approximately $5,000.
$233,799 spentof which $21,060 as grants$193,759 earned by the program18% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,320,165.
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 $21M (+29%).
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 2% · 2018 5% · 2019 1% · 2020 8% · 2021 8% · 2022 0% · 2023 1% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
93% of JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC’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. 0 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
Steve Barg
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $146k → $529k.
11 of 32 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 47% 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 JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 32 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
JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 80%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
51% 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 JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 31% · 2018 38% · 2019 52% · 2020 52% · 2021 38% · 2022 80% · 2023 68% — 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.
How long its funders stay
38% of JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 72% 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
86% of JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.9M 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
JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,074 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,074 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION 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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
60% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
53%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Casper Creek Natural Cemetery Company Inc · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION 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 JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC?
- JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC (Illinois) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,351,479 to it, the largest being Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation ($3,074,682). 23 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 32 organizations giving $8,351,479 in grants to JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC, 23 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC?
- Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $3,074,682 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 32 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