Ohio · Nonprofit
THE WILDERNESS CENTER INC
THE WILDERNESS CENTER INC (Ohio) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,270,251 to it, the largest being STARK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($1,716,176). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 85% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.8M
- Funders on record
- 21
- Grants received
- $2.3M
- Net assets
- $19M
What The Wilderness Center Inc does
Mission
To connect our community with nature, educate people of all ages, conserve natural resources and practice environmental stewardship.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program and a significant change in how it conducts a program.
Twc offers a hunting lease program during bow hunting season as part of our conservation program area
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Twc no longer offers timber harvesting as a forestry service
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
The wilderness center's conservation program currently protects more than 3,500 acres of forest, wetlands, grasslands & farmlands & more than 13 miles of streams in a 7-county area. Twc currently owns (in fee) 2,177 acres & holds conservation easements on 1,328 acres. Twc has contributed to the protection & enhancement of 96 acres of habitat via the community watershed conservaon partnership program which provides landowners with a plan to enhance or restore wildlife habitat on their property through the use of non-binding agreements. Twc also began large-scale restoration on 3 properties totaling 54 acres of invasive species management, wetland creation & restoration, & hardwood forest management.
$645,483 spentof which $221 as grants$148,944 earned by the program49% of program spendingThe wilderness center's education department is dedicated to fostering a deep connection between individuals & their natural environment. Through a diverse array of interpretive programs, we aim to inspire curiosity, instill environmental stewardship, and promote lifelong learning. Twc offers a variety of formal (schools, libraries, etc.) and non-formal (interpretive hikes, citizen science, etc.) educational classes to members & the public throughout the year. Twc served over 6,000 members and guests in total for the 2025 fiscal year. Over 2,500 of those were school-based and other youth-based programming offered on and off-site. Over 3,000 of those participants were those attending family friendly programs and activities as well as over 300 adult participants to various educationalprograms.
$392,911 spent$72,278 earned by the program30% of program spendingThe wilderness center's facilities include an interpretive building containing classrooms, meeting rooms, exhibits, a wildlife observation room and a bookstore/gift shop. Twc's astronomy education building houses an observatory and the fred f. Silk planetarium. Twc offers 10 miles of hiking trails, picnic shelters and an observation tower for the public's enjoyment and enrichment. Twc is also home to a nature playscape and a native plant nursery.
$290,245 spent$53,392 earned by the program22% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,328,639.
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 $16M to $18M (+10%).
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: 2019 12% · 2021 2% · 2022 14% · 2023 7% · 2024 1% · 2025 14%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
56% of THE WILDERNESS CENTER INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Jeanne Gural
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 8 funders, grant income fell $301k → $260k.
5 of 21 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 85% 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 WILDERNESS CENTER INC’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
THE WILDERNESS CENTER INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 76% of grant income and the top three 89%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
90% 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 WILDERNESS CENTER INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 91% · 2018 84% · 2019 84% · 2020 64% · 2021 78% · 2022 90% · 2023 77% — 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
36% of THE WILDERNESS CENTER INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
85% of THE WILDERNESS CENTER INC'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 $336k that is directly attributable, 67% of it comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.9M arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
THE WILDERNESS CENTER INC is better cushioned than half 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 THE WILDERNESS CENTER 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 Ohio
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
59%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Foxfield Preserve Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE WILDERNESS CENTER 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 WILDERNESS CENTER INC?
- THE WILDERNESS CENTER INC (Ohio) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,270,251 to it, the largest being STARK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($1,716,176). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 85% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE WILDERNESS CENTER INC have?
- IRS filings report 21 organizations giving $2,270,251 in grants to THE WILDERNESS CENTER INC, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE WILDERNESS CENTER INC?
- STARK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,716,176 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE WILDERNESS CENTER INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 Wilderness Center →
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 21 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