Kentucky · Nonprofit
TREES LEXINGTON
TREES LEXINGTON (Kentucky) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $136,706 to it, the largest being BLUE GRASS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($52,976). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $303k
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $137k
- Net assets
- $58k
What Trees Lexington does
Mission
Tree Lexington is a nonprofit that empowers community members to dig into the fun and fulfilling work of expanding and maintaining our local tree canopy. Through community tree plantings and educational workshops on proper tree care, Trees Lexington increases canopy cover, improves the health of our citizens, and preserves the character of our city.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Tree Planting & Care - Trees Lexington provides Lexington community organizations and individuals with comprehensive educational expertise in tree care to help them become good stewards of their urban forest and the environment. The Tree Stewards Program provides hands-on training to individuals in all aspects of tree care including correct planting technique, mulching, watering and pruning. As a result of that training, Tree Stewards are equipped with the knowledge and skills to be leaders in neighborhoods and community projects enhancing our urban forest. We also collaborate with local businesses and community and neighborhood organizations to plan, implement and maintain tree coverage for their property. Since 2018, Trees Lexington has planted over 1,600 trees (with over 700 in 2025) and involved hundreds of volunteers in their care achieving a high 90s percent survival rate.
$101,604 spent$79,289 earned by the program40% of program spendingTree Giveaways - Trees Lexington's tree giveaways provide an opportunity for individuals to become urban forest stakeholders by receiving a free three-gallon tree for their private property; tree planting and maintenance education; and one-on-one guidance from our tree experts, including several certified arborists. Since the program's inception, Trees Lexington gave away over 3,000 trees, including approximately 550 in 2025.
$12,012 spent5% of program spendingGrant Projects - Trees Lexington works in partnership with local government, state government, and schools to plan, implement, and maintain tree canopy projects that improve our urban forest in under-canopied areas. These projects allow neighborhoods and communities that are historically lacking in green infrastructure to enjoy the benefits of green-space and tree canopies including reduced heat island effects, engaging public spaces, and children's playgrounds. 2025 projects included tree planting at 16 Fayette County Public Schools, Lexington Housing Authority, God's Pantry Food Bank, and other community spaces.
$138,856 spent$191,097 earned by the program55% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $252,472.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2023, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2023, 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 2024 to 2025, from $32k to $66k (+105%).
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: 2025 63%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of TREES LEXINGTON’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. 1 of the last 3 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $1k → $19k.
3 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 44% 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 TREES LEXINGTON’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
TREES LEXINGTON leans on a few funders — its largest provides 39% of grant income and the top three 76%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
81% 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 TREES LEXINGTON.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 89% · 2019 67% · 2020 81% · 2021 40% · 2022 51% · 2023 50% — 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
60% of TREES LEXINGTON's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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
51% of TREES LEXINGTON's grant income comes from Kentucky funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $60k 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
TREES LEXINGTON has grown faster than three-quarters of the 2,433 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,433 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like TREES LEXINGTON
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 Kentucky
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 TREES LEXINGTON: 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 TREES LEXINGTON?
- TREES LEXINGTON (Kentucky) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $136,706 to it, the largest being BLUE GRASS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($52,976). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does TREES LEXINGTON have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $136,706 in grants to TREES LEXINGTON, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of TREES LEXINGTON?
- BLUE GRASS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $52,976 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like TREES LEXINGTON find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Kentucky. 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 Trees Lexington →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2023–2025), and the filings of 10 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