Massachusetts · Nonprofit
MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST
MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST (Massachusetts) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,488,522 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($455,158). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $788k
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $1.5M
- Net assets
- $9.8M
What Manchester Essex Conservation Trust does
Mission
Manchester Essex Conservation Trust preserves in perpetuity the natural beauty, wildlife habitat, and open space resources in our two towns and adjacent communities. We protect this land through acquisitions, conservation restrictions, donations and engagement with the public. Through sharing this land, we encourage and support exploration of nature, education, and scientific study.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Mect conserves land through acquisitions of fee interest and conservation restrictions in essex and manchester ma. In 2024, we acquired several parcels for a total of approximately 20 acres. We partnered with essex county greenbelt on two state grants, acquiring over 100 acres in conservation restrictions in essex and gloucester. We are conducting intense deed research in several areas to determine ownership for conservation acquisition purposes, including a 30+ acre parcel in essex, which will be a donation. We continue to work with sellers and to monitor our holdings. We have continued to pursue our capital campaign goal of 5m for land acquisition and defense. We continued to defend our conservation land from a proposed development at our borders, and filed an appeal at ma superior court to further these efforts.
$396,170 spent100% of program spendingOur annual meeting, keynoted by sara lewis, phd on fireflies, drew in approx 150 people to learn about our organization, and fireflies. Dr. Lewis participates worldwide in protection and enhancement of firefly habitat. We held 10 hikes on botany, vernal pools, mushrooms and others highlighting the expansive trail network on conservation land. Our outreach through newsletters, e-newsletters and social media has increased our effectiveness and education. A high-tier donor cocktail party increased financial support for the organization.
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $396,170.
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 $7.6M to $8.8M (+15%).
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.
90% of MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST’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 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 12 funders, grant income rose $121k → $291k.
7 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 56% 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 MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST’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
MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST leans on a few funders — its largest provides 31% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
56% 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 MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 85% · 2018 49% · 2019 70% · 2020 69% · 2021 64% · 2022 39% · 2023 34% — 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
42% of MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
56% of MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST'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 $651k that is directly attributable, 87% of it comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $838k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 4,266 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,266 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST
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
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
73%
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 MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST: 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 MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST?
- MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST (Massachusetts) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,488,522 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($455,158). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $1,488,522 in grants to MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST, 15 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $455,158 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MANCHESTER ESSEX CONSERVATION TRUST 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.
Play a game about who funds Manchester Essex Conservation →
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 26 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