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Illinois · Nonprofit

McHenry County Conservation Foundation

McHenry County Conservation Foundation (Illinois) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,171,991 to it, the largest being Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation ($726,344). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 92% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2025
$363k
Funders on record
14
Grants received
$1.2M
Net assets
$1.9M
4/14 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 93%
01What it does

What McHenry County Conservation Foundation does

Mission

To promote, support, assist, sustain and encourage the charitable, educational, scientific and recreational programs, projects and policies of the McHenry County Conservation District and other open space organizations. This is accomplished through conservation programs and grants for the purpose of open space conservation.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. The Foundation provided contributions and other support to the McHenry County Conservation District for the acquisition and restoration of open space and other conservation activities.

    $237,990 spent
    82% of program spending
  2. Contributions to other organizations.

    $51,689 spent
    18% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $289,679.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($107k) Expenses 100 ($48k) Net assets 100 ($789k)2018 Revenue 189 ($203k) Expenses 45 ($21k) Net assets 125 ($990k)2019 Revenue 99 ($106k) Expenses 373 ($178k) Net assets 123 ($968k)2020 Revenue 290 ($311k) Expenses 240 ($114k) Net assets 151 ($1.2M)2021 Revenue 754 ($810k) Expenses 367 ($175k) Net assets 239 ($1.9M)2022 Revenue 137 ($148k) Expenses 292 ($139k) Net assets 237 ($1.9M)2023 Revenue 238 ($256k) Expenses 534 ($254k) Net assets 238 ($1.9M)2024 Revenue 426 ($458k) Expenses 793 ($378k) Net assets 247 ($1.9M)2025 Revenue 338 ($363k) Expenses 606 ($289k) Net assets 243 ($1.9M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (338)Expenses (606)Net assets (243)Peer revenue range

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 $1.2M to $1.9M (+59%).

$789k
$990k
$968k
$1.2M
$1.9M
$1.9M
$1.9M
$1.9M
$1.9M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

102% of McHenry County Conservation Foundation’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 4,629 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$60k
’17
$181k
’18
−$72k
’19
$197k
’20
$635k
’21
$8k
’22
$1k
’23
$80k
’24
$74k
’25
8.2
months of
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

Shawna Flavell

Executive Director

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed778881010910
Joined·+0+1+1+0+2+1+1+1
No longer listed·00100120
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $34k → $239k.

5 of 14 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 92% 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 McHenry County Conservation Foundation’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

McHenry County Conservation Foundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 62% of grant income and the top three 87%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

92% 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 McHenry County Conservation Foundation.

62%
largest funder
87%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 62% · 2020 89% · 2021 96% · 2022 43% · 2023 80% — 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

20% of McHenry County Conservation Foundation's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 29% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y

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

92% of McHenry County Conservation Foundation'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 $94k that is directly attributable, 57% of it comes from Illinois funders.

IL
NJ
CT
NE

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’21
’22
’23
Illinois out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

McHenry County Conservation Foundation runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 2,433 environment nonprofits its size.

Operating margin20% · above the median
Months of reserve8.2mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)16% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,433 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025

Organizations like McHenry County Conservation Foundation

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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

68% of spending goes to programs.

Program 68%Management 20%Fundraising 12%

Governance

9
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

94%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

IL

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • McHenry County Conservation District · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for McHenry County Conservation Foundation: 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.

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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 McHenry County Conservation Foundation?
McHenry County Conservation Foundation (Illinois) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,171,991 to it, the largest being Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation ($726,344). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 92% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does McHenry County Conservation Foundation have?
IRS filings report 14 organizations giving $1,171,991 in grants to McHenry County Conservation Foundation, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of McHenry County Conservation Foundation?
Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $726,344 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like McHenry County Conservation Foundation 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 14 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