South Carolina · Nonprofit
The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc
The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc (South Carolina) receives grants from 74 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,537,103 to it, the largest being POST AND COURIER FOUNDATION ($750,000). 49 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.0M
- Funders on record
- 74
- Grants received
- $4.5M
- Net assets
- $13M
What The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc does
Mission
The Preservation Society of Charleston is dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of Charleston's distinct character, quality of life and diverse neighborhoods.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
AdvocacyThe Preservation Society of Charleston (PSC) works to protect Charleston's historic buildings, cultural resources and communities by promoting better development practices, flood mitigation, and tourism management. We support a more livable, sustainable future for Charleston through advocacy, education, and community engagement. The PSC is in a unique position to analyze and explain the connections between planning and zoning decisions and the quality of life for people who live and work in Charleston. Through regular communication (both electronic and print) and an informative and versatile website, the PSC alerts citizens to the issues, encouraging them to engage with their public officials, and to have a voice in the public process. Additional aspects of our advocacy work include:Sustainable Growth and Development by DesignWith intense pressure for new, large-scale development is impacting every major city in America, and Charleston is no exception. The rapid Charleston population growth requires added vigilance to promote sustainable development patterns and preservation of the city's unique architectural character. The community must work together to ensure Charleston…
$1,155,133 spent$324,008 earned by the program64% of program spendingRetail ShopThe retail operation of the society is comprised of a bricks-and-mortar shop and growing online presence and is staffed by a group of gifted employees. The shop features the work of local "makers" from feather brackish bow ties to a line of locally crafted handbags. More than ever aligned with the PSC's mission of advocating for what is truly authentic and real in Charleston, the retail operation both stabilizes the organization's cash flow and furthers its work, enrolling new members and educating the public about the PSC's mission. (Continued on Schedule O)Since 2015, we've grown our retail business more than fivefold, and there has never been a better time to support local makers. When you shop at the PSC Shop, your support goes far beyond our mission and advocacy work. This year alone, The PSC Shop will put over $1,000,000 back into the local makers and craftsmen community.Our partnership with local makers fits seamlessly with our mission committing us to the quality of life of the Charleston community and our storefront at 147 King Street brings exposure of these craftsmen to the bustling corner of King and Queen streets. As is the case with Brackish, Smithey…
$636,360 spent$1,081,279 earned by the program36% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,791,493.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $4.5M to $7.2M (+59%).
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: 2024 0% · 2025 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Brian Turner
President and CEO
Board chair
Andrew Gowder Jr
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 36 funders, grant income rose $47k → $429k.
12 of 74 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 41% 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 The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 74 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
The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
42% 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 The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 65% · 2018 40% · 2019 68% · 2020 51% · 2021 19% · 2022 16% · 2023 12% — 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
56% of The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 66% 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
The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc draws 55% of its grant income from funders outside South Carolina, across 23 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.9M 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.
Government funding The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $50k on record.
- Department of the Interior$50k
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 The Preservation Society of Charleston 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 South Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
93%
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 The Preservation Society of Charleston 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 The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc?
- The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc (South Carolina) receives grants from 74 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,537,103 to it, the largest being POST AND COURIER FOUNDATION ($750,000). 49 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc have?
- IRS filings report 74 organizations giving $4,537,103 in grants to The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc, 49 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc?
- POST AND COURIER FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $750,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in South Carolina. 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 Preservation Society of Charleston →
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 74 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