Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY
LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 56 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,120,384 to it, the largest being CLARK ASSOCIATES CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($4,979,500). 34 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $8.7M
- Funders on record
- 56
- Grants received
- $16M
- Net assets
- $90M
What Lancaster County Conservancy does
Mission
The mission of the Lancaster County Conservancy is "providing wild and forested lands and clean waterways for our community forever". The charitable purposes of the Lancaster County Conservancy include preservation of natural lands, ecosystems, landscapes and waterways for future generations. Conservancy preserves are open to the public 365 days a year, sun up to sun down. Our work results in protection of critical wildlife corridors, recreation lands, water resources, and preserves mature forests that clean our air and water. We work with national, regional and local partners to protect the special places within lancaster county and along its streams and rivers. This effort also takes us into york, chester and dauphin counties with a focus on land, water and community.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Land stewardshipinvesting in restoration & accessthe conservancy saves and cares for places where wildlife can thrive and people can get outdoors. We plant native trees and pollinator meadows while fighting invasive species like garlic mustard and multiflora rose, fostering healthy biodiverse ecosystems. The conservancy also encourages responsible and sustainable outdoor recreation by strategically building and maintaining trails and other visitor infrastructure.new trails & restoration at high family nature preservein 2025, the conservancy opened 2 miles of new hiking trails that traverse meadow, boulder-strewn woodlands, and small streams at the high family nature preserve in mount joy township, lancaster county. The preserve, formerly known as donegal highlands, was renamed in honor of the extraordinary generosity of the high foundation, the calvin and janet high family foundation, suzanne high, and don and lisa clark.the preserve has recently undergone extensive ecological restoration, including the use of climate-smart forestry to encourage more layers of successional forest and to care for the meadow habitat at the preserve, as well as the removal of invasive species like…
$2,132,986 spentof which $68,500 as grants$384,525 earned by the program63% of program spendingCommunity impactconnecting our community & naturelancaster conservancy strives to empower everyone in our community to explore outdoors. From annual events like lancaster water week and trail fest to seasonal k-12 school programming to year-round interpretive activities, we offer engaging conservation education for learners of all ages and encourage everyone to connect with nature.k-12 conservation educationin 2025, the conservancy engaged over 1,600 students on our preserves from a dozen lancaster and york county school districts including york city, penn manor, and conestoga valley. During these programs, students learn about conservation and leave no trace, study meadows and macroinvertebrates, and explore nature. For some students, it is their first experience in this kind of natural setting.lancaster water weekthe ninth annual lancaster water week was an energizing celebration of our streams and rivers! During over 60 events hosted by dozens of partners, our community paddled on the conestoga and susquehanna rivers, went on walks and bike rides to learn about our waterways and clean water projects, connected with our streams and rivers at community celebrations, explored…
$785,771 spentof which $24,327 as grants$217,030 earned by the program23% of program spendingLand protection and acquisitionprotecting natural landsin 2025, lancaster conservancy protected or put under agreement over 450 acres of natural lands, including two new preserves as well as additions to the existing kellys run and shaw family nature preserves. These properties protect and connect wildlife habitat, support resilient ecosystems, safeguard clean air and clean water, contribute to a growing outdoor recreation economy, and offer physical and mental health benefits for our community. In the last 10 years, the conservancy has more than doubled the number of acres we have protected.ingrid graham historic hellam nature preservethe 56-acre ingrid graham historic hellam nature preserve, located in the hellam hills conservation area in york county, was donated to the conservancy in 2025 by the graham family. It includes several historic structures as well as floodplain forest, meadow, and a section of kreutz creek. This unique preserve will be the conservancy's engagement and education center in york county. Along with the conservancy's hands-on conservation education programming, engagement activities at the preserve will include teaching visitors about the site's…
$468,390 spent14% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,387,147.
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 2020 to 2021, from $65M to $78M (+20%).
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 28% · 2018 39% · 2019 12% · 2020 7% · 2021 27% · 2022 37% · 2023 24% · 2024 41%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
85% of LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as 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 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
Frederick Schroeder Jr
President & CEO
Board chair
Julie L Jones Md
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2022 and FY2023 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 29 funders, grant income rose $581k → $2.4M.
12 of 56 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% 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 LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 56 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
LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 31% 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
37% 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 LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 53% · 2018 36% · 2019 72% · 2020 50% · 2021 38% · 2022 34% · 2023 47% — 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
50% of LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% 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
78% of LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY's grant income comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,187 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,187 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $188k on record.
- Department of the Interior$188k
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 LANCASTER COUNTY 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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
78%
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 LANCASTER COUNTY 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 LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY?
- LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 56 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,120,384 to it, the largest being CLARK ASSOCIATES CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($4,979,500). 34 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY have?
- IRS filings report 56 organizations giving $16,120,384 in grants to LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY, 34 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY?
- CLARK ASSOCIATES CHARITABLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,979,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LANCASTER COUNTY CONSERVANCY 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.
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 56 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