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North Carolina · Nonprofit

Wild South

Wild South (North Carolina) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $621,735 to it, the largest being NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION ($262,527). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$431k
Funders on record
14
Grants received
$622k
Net assets
$315k
4/14 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 54%
01What it does

What Wild South does

Mission

We inspire people to enjoy, value and protect the wild character and natural legacy of the South.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Wild South supports communities in practical projects that produce real conservation results, combining enjoyment of the outdoors with on-the-ground accomplishments that meet specific forest needs shaping National Forest policy. Projects include trash/graffiti cleanup, trail maintenance/construction.

    $245,037 spent$189,001 earned by the program
    100% of program spending
  2. Wild South supports communities in science-based solutions to the shared challenges of National Forests, targeting opportunities where people can make a difference in the wildest of the Souths forests and waters. Projects include stream restoration, endangered plant protection, and non-native plant removal.

  3. Wild South supports communities in National Forest decision-making for ecological and economic sustainability, defending wild lands in close collaboration with the wide range of forest stakeholders. Projects include advocacy for wilderness study areas and proposed wild and scenic rivers.

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $245,037.

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 ($337k) Expenses 100 ($242k) Net assets 100 ($126k)2018 Revenue 93 ($314k) Expenses 127 ($307k) Net assets 105 ($132k)2019 Revenue 81 ($271k) Expenses 106 ($256k) Net assets 117 ($147k)2020 Revenue 60 ($201k) Expenses 101 ($244k) Net assets 83 ($104k)2021 Revenue 58 ($196k) Expenses 75 ($181k) Net assets 95 ($119k)2022 Revenue 40 ($133k) Expenses 59 ($142k) Net assets 88 ($111k)2023 Revenue 68 ($230k) Expenses 65 ($158k) Net assets 145 ($182k)2024 Revenue 128 ($431k) Expenses 123 ($298k) Net assets 251 ($315k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (128)Expenses (123)Net assets (251)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 2023 to 2024, from $187k to $324k (+73%).

$143k
$150k
$162k
$144k
$138k
$117k
$187k
$324k
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
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
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2018 7% · 2019 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

56% of Wild South’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (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. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$94k
’17
$6k
’18
$15k
’19
−$43k
’20
$16k
’21
−$9k
’22
$72k
’23
$133k
’24
7.6
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

Kevin Massey

Executive Director

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

2017201820192020202120232024
Listed77915111111
Joined·+0+4+8+0·+1
No longer listed·0224·1
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 5 funders, grant income rose $60k → $123k.

4 of 14 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% 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 Wild South’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

Wild South leans on a few funders — its largest provides 42% of grant income and the top three 82%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

83% 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 Wild South.

42%
largest funder
82%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 55% · 2022 49% · 2023 41% — 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

43% of Wild South's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 29% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

Wild South draws 75% of its grant income from funders outside North Carolina, across 7 states in all.

MT
CT
CA
CO
VA
NC
AL

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

’17
’18
’19
’21
’22
’23
North Carolina out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $186k 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

Wild South runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 4,264 environment nonprofits its size.

Operating margin31% · top quartile
Months of reserve7.6mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)4% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,264 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024

Government funding Wild South receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.1M on record.

Federal$1.1M
grants $1.1Mcontracts $0
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Top agencies
  • Department of Agriculture$1.1M

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 Wild South

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 North Carolina

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

82% of spending goes to programs.

Program 82%Management 14%Fundraising 4%

Governance

10
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

89%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 3 states

TN
NC
AL

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Wild South: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 Wild South?
Wild South (North Carolina) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $621,735 to it, the largest being NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION ($262,527). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Wild South have?
IRS filings report 14 organizations giving $621,735 in grants to Wild South, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Wild South?
NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $262,527 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Wild South find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North 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 Wild South →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), 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