South Carolina · Nonprofit
UPSTATE FOREVER
UPSTATE FOREVER (South Carolina) receives grants from 56 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,616,777 to it, the largest being Spartanburg County Foundation ($668,142). 39 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $7.3M
- Funders on record
- 56
- Grants received
- $3.6M
- Net assets
- $9.4M
What Upstate Forever does
Mission
Upstate Forever is a conservation organization with a mission to protect critical lands, waters, and the unique character of the upstate of south carolina.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
As of dec 31, 2025, the Upstate Forever land conservation program is accredited by the land trust accreditation commission and has protected 34,872 acres through 183 conservation easements in the upstate of south carolina. 30% of the easements provide public access and 24% are working farms. In 2025, Upstate Forever helped to preserve 12 projects totaling about 2,767 acres and continues their land management program to help restore habitat on conservation easement properties.
$5,240,672 spentof which $4,314,025 as grants$47,250 earned by the program75% of program spendingIn 2025, the clean water program collaborated with drinking water utilities as well as local, state, and federal partners to install a variety of best management practices to reduce water pollution and permanently protecting land in the tyger river watershed in greenville and spartanburg counties and the three and twenty creek watershed in anderson and pickens counties, south carolina. The program also initiated the development of a source water protection plan for the rocky river watershed in anderson and abbeville counties, south carolina. The clean water program also participated in the development of the state water plan by serving on the saluda and upper savannah river basin councils to develop a sustainable and equitable water resource allocation plans for these basins. The program also served on the boards of the anderson water council, lake keowee source water protection team, the lake hartwell partners for clean water and partnered with the reedy river water quality group to improve water quality through local advocacy, education, and project engagement.
$427,324 spent6% of program spendingIn 2025, land planning and policy staff engaged with local elected and appointed officials and government staff on issues related to smarter land development, with a primary focus on advancing policies that implement city and county comprehensive plans.they partnered on education and advocacy efforts with transit and housing advocates and facilitated a citizens planning academy to educate residents on local land use policies and avenues to influence decision-making. Social media and dedicated email lists were used to engage and activate residents. The organization supported the adoption of a new city of greenville development code, a unified development ordinance in the city of greer, a new zoning ordinance in the city of woodruff, and an improved tree and landscaping ordinance in the city of anderson. Citizens were mobilized to influence the city of greenville's proposed development code and to advance strengthened requirements for riparian buffers in greenville county. The organization also participated in other local planning and policy efforts in the city of spartanburg and spartanburg county.
$291,289 spentof which $600 as grants4% of program spendingOther work of Upstate Forever includes advocacy for projects that impact the upstate community including the partnership to advance the saluda grade rail trail project, administration of the upstate land conservation fund (ulcf), the energy and state policy program that maintains a legislative focus of keeping upstate citizens aware of issues that affect daily life, and the health of the upstate community.
$1,007,959 spentof which $3,000 as grants14% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,967,244.
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 2022 to 2023, from $7.5M to $9.5M (+26%).
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: 2017 30% · 2018 1% · 2019 6% · 2020 5% · 2021 14% · 2022 20% · 2023 5% · 2024 32% · 2025 67%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
91% of UPSTATE FOREVER’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. 6 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.
Board chair
Allen Jacoby
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 24 funders, grant income rose $52k → $809k.
10 of 56 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 34% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $341k from 7 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest United States Energy Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money UPSTATE FOREVER raised.
From the IRS filings of UPSTATE FOREVER’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 56 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
UPSTATE FOREVER has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
54% 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 UPSTATE FOREVER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 30% · 2018 54% · 2019 25% · 2020 41% · 2021 48% · 2022 49% · 2023 65% — 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
42% of UPSTATE FOREVER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 70% 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 UPSTATE FOREVER's grant income comes from South Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
UPSTATE FOREVER has grown faster than half of the 1,209 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,209 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding UPSTATE FOREVER receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $10.1M on record.
- Department of Agriculture$9.8M
- Department of Transportation$250k
- Department of the Interior$114k
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 UPSTATE FOREVER
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
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 5 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for UPSTATE FOREVER: 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 UPSTATE FOREVER?
- UPSTATE FOREVER (South Carolina) receives grants from 56 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,616,777 to it, the largest being Spartanburg County Foundation ($668,142). 39 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does UPSTATE FOREVER have?
- IRS filings report 56 organizations giving $3,616,777 in grants to UPSTATE FOREVER, 39 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of UPSTATE FOREVER?
- Spartanburg County Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $668,142 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like UPSTATE FOREVER 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.
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 56 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