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Advocacy · Broad conservation

The Nature Conservancy

“To conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends.”

42 comments to the agencies, 71 cents of every dollar to the work.

Home groundArlington, VA
Founded1951
Tax status501(c)(3)
Led byJennifer Morris

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The origin

How they started

The Nature Conservancy is the largest environmental nonprofit in the Americas by assets and reach, working in all 50 states and dozens of countries. Founded in 1951, it protects land and water primarily by buying it, holding easements, and managing it with science rather than by litigating. Its scale lets it close deals, from ranch easements to whole watersheds, that smaller groups cannot.

Where the money went, FY2025

The work, and what it cost

The program, as they filed it

$1.0B, 71% of spending

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is focused on conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends.

Including $180,029,763 granted onward, the largest share ($2,125,552) to American Forest Foundation.

Read it as they filed it
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY (TNC) IS FOCUSED ON CONSERVING THE LANDS AND WATERS ON WHICH ALL LIFE DEPENDS. WE WORK ACROSS SIX CONTINENTS, INCLUDING IN MORE THAN 80 COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES, AND ALL 50 STATES IN THE U.S., TO CONSERVE THE LANDS AND WATERS ON WHICH ALL LIFE DEPENDS. OUR VISION IS A FUTURE WHERE PEOPLE AND NATURE THRIVE. GROUNDED BY DECADES OF LOCAL ON-THE-GROUND EXPERIENCE, WE MAXIMIZE OUR ABILITY TO AFFECT CHANGE BY BRINGING TOGETHER REAL-WORLD SOLUTIONS, POLICY EXPERTISE, SUSTAINABLE FINANCING, AND COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS. WORKING WITH PARTNERS AROUND THE WORLD, TNC CONTINUES TO MAKE PROGRESS TOWARDS OUR GOALS FOR A HEALTHIER PLANET.SEE SCHEDULE O FOR CONTINUATIONTNC'S ACCOUNTING METHODOLOGY THROUGH THE 2024 TAX YEAR DOES NOT ATTRIBUTE REVENUES OR ALL PROGRAM EXPENSES TO INDIVIDUAL PROGRAMS, BECAUSE MANY PROJECTS ADVANCE MULTIPLE CONSERVATION GOALS. ACCORDINGLY, A STRICT SEPARATION OF PROGRAMS IN PART III WOULD NOT ACCURATELY REFLECT PROGRAMMATIC EXPENDITURES AND CORRESPONDING REVENUE. TNC ORGANIZES ITS WORK AROUND THREE GLOBAL PRIORITIES, AIMED AT SOLVING SOME OF THE GREATEST CHALLENGES FACING OUR PLANET. PROTECT OCEANS, LAND, AND WATERDURING THE 2024 TAX YEAR, TNC WORKED TOWARDS CONSERVING CRITICAL FORESTS, GRASSLANDS, OCEANS, FRESHWATER SYSTEMS, WILDLIFE, AND COASTAL AREAS WORLDWIDE. NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS INCLUDE: - SUPPORTING THE RATIFICATION OF THE HIGH SEAS TREATY, A LANDMARK LEGAL AGREEMENT BY 60 COUNTRIES TO PROTECT THE HIGH SEAS - AN AREA OF OCEAN COVERING NEARLY HALF THE PLANET.- EXPANDING THE NATURE BONDS PROGRAM, WHICH WORKS WITH NATIONS TO REFINANCE THEIR DEBT, AND HAS UNLOCKED $1 BILLION TO HELP CONSERVE OVER 242 MILLION HECTARES OF OCEAN, LAND, AND FRESHWATER GLOBALLY.- SUPPORTING LARGE-SCALE WILDLIFE HABITAT PROTECTION, WHICH HAS AIDED THE RETURN OF ENDANGERED SPECIES IN AFRICA, SUCH AS THE BLACK RHINO IN KENYA AND PREVIOUSLY DECIMATED ELEPHANT POPULATIONS IN ZAMBIA.PROVIDE WATER AND FOOD SUSTAINABLYIN THE 2024 TAX YEAR, TNC PROGRESSED TOWARDS ITS GOAL OF MAINSTREAMING NATURE POSITIVE FRESHWATER MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS, BY WORKING WITH LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS TO DEVELOP PRACTICES THAT FURTHER CONSERVATION WHILE ALSO SUPPORTING LOCAL COMMUNITIES. FOR EXAMPLE, DURING THE 2024 TAX YEAR, TNC LAUNCHED A SUSTAINABLE CATTLE PROGRAM IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON THAT IMPLEMENTS DEFORESTATION FREE AGRICULTURAL SUPPLY CHAINS THROUGH TRACEABILITY AND POLICY REFORM. TNC ALSO CONTINUED EXPANDING ITS WATERSHED INVESTMENT PROGRAMS DURING TAX YEAR 2024. SOME EXAMPLES OF THESE PROGRAMS INCLUDE: - TNC'S NATURE FOR WATER PROGRAM, WHICH HAS BEEN SCALED TO 28 COUNTRIES TO EQUIP PARTNERS WITH TOOLS AND TRAINING NEEDED TO TACKLE WATER ISSUES UNIQUE TO THEIR COMMUNITIES.- THE NORFOLK WATER STRATEGY PROGRAMME (NWSP), WHICH WAS LAUNCHED THIS YEAR BUT WHEN FULLY IMPLEMENTED, WILL IMPROVE MORE THAN 25,000 HECTARES OF WILDLIFE HABITAT IN EUROPE.- TNC-CREATED WATER FUNDS THAT HAVE SAFEGUARDED ECOSYSTEMS AND IMPROVED WATER QUALITY, SUCH AS IN ECUADOR WHERE MORE THAN 55,000 HECTARES OF ECOSYSTEMS HAVE BEEN CONSERVED.- TNC-CREATED WATER FUNDS THAT HAVE BECOME SELF-SUSTAINING AND LOCALLY MANAGED. FOR EXAMPLE, THE UPPER-TANA NAIROBI WATER FUND IN KENYA, LAUNCHED BY TNC A DECADE AGO, HAS FUNDED THE PLANTING OF MORE THAN 5.5 MILLION TREES AND ENGAGED MORE THAN 270,000 FARMERS IN IMPROVING SOIL QUALITY AND WATER USE ON THEIR LANDS.TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGEDURING THE 2024 TAX YEAR, TNC ALSO LEVERAGED NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS, POLICY, AND MARKETS TO HELP REDUCE GLOBAL EMISSIONS AND BUILD CLIMATE RESILIENCE. TNC SUPPORTED RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT AND RESPONSIBLE SITING ACROSS EUROPE, INDIA, AND THE UNITED STATES. TO SUPPORT THIS ENERGY TRANSITION, TNC HELPED PUBLISH A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND SET OF BIODIVERSITY SENSITIVITY SITING MAPS TO GUIDE RENEWABLES PLANNING. TNC ALSO ADVANCED LARGE SCALE RESTORATION PROJECTS TO SUPPORT THE HEALTH OF FORESTS, PEATLANDS, RIVERS AND COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS AND STRENGTHENED INNOVATIVE CLIMATE RISK FINANCING SOLUTIONS, INCLUDING INSURANCE MECHANISMS TO PROTECT CORAL REEFS IN THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO, AND MANAGE WILDFIRE RISK IN CALIFORNIA.FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT: HTTPS://WWW.NATURE.ORG/EN-US/ABOUT-US/WHO-WE-ARE/ACCOUNTABILITY/ANNUAL-REPORT/

IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.

Follow the dollar

71 cents of every dollar goes to the work

71¢
71¢ the work15¢ keeping the lights on14¢ raising the next dollar

Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.

$1,025,088,528 programs, $211,228,590 management, $201,589,784 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.

The backers

Backed on the record by Pew Charitable Trusts, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and Wilburforce Foundation, latest filing FY25.

The people

Who does the work

5,150paid staff
14,200volunteers last year
20board members
Jennifer MorrisDirector/Chief Executive OfficerComp $879,344, FY2025
Bola OlusanyaChief Investment OfficerComp $777,903, FY2025
Neel BrokerChief Operating OfficerComp $564,039, FY2025
Senator William FristBoard ChairVolunteer, 1 hrs a week, $0

Chairs the 20-member board.

Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. The FY2025 filing lists two people as director/chief executive officer, Jennifer Morris and William Ulfelder, usually a handover inside the year. The FY2025 filing lists two people as executive director, Jennifer Morris and Asha Shah as interim, usually a handover inside the year. If it’s out of date, tell us. Work at the Nature Conservancy? Claim this page.

Those 14,200 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If the Nature Conservancy is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.

Find your way in

The filings

14 years of filings

Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at or tap the line for any year.

$25M$50M$75M$100M$125M$150M$175M$200M$225M$250M$275M$300M$325M$350M$375M$400M$425M$450M$475M$500M$525M$550M$575M$600M$625M$650M$675M$700M$725M$750M$775M$800M$825M$850M$875M$900M$925M$950M$975M$1000M$1025M$1050M$1075M$1100M$1125M$1150M$1175M$1200M$1225M$1250M$1275M$1300M$1325M$1350M$1375M$1400M$1425M$1450M$1475M$1500M$1525M$1550M$1575M$1600M$1625M$1650M$1675M$1700M$1725M$1750M$1775M$1800M$1.7B FY2520112025
Total revenue by fiscal year
YearRevenue
2011$997,037,763
2012$949,132,306
2013$859,133,843
2014$949,990,421
2015$958,808,662
2016$914,539,673
2017$1,006,241,963
2018$1,184,630,698
2019$998,088,724
2020$1,137,390,674
2021$1,290,130,840
2022$1,312,108,803
2023$1,166,010,019
2025$1,746,229,436

From $997.0M in 2011 to $1.7B in FY25, across 14 public filings (none on record for 2024).

On the Hill

The Nature Conservancy files its own federal lobbying reports: 171 filings from 2019 to 2026, naming 275 bills. The filings, at the Senate.

Most filed on natural resources, the budget and energy.

The record

On the record with the agencies

42 comments on federal decisions since 2023, each filed under the group’s own name on regulations.gov. The latest on decisions we track:

Year by year

The record, in order

  1. 1951The Nature Conservancy is formed.the return, formation year
  2. 2022First appears in the grants of Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and Wilburforce Foundation.the funders’ returns
  3. 20234 comments, most to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
  4. First appears in Pew Charitable Trusts’ grants.the funder’s return
  5. 202419 comments, most to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
  6. 20258 comments, most to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
  7. 202611 comments to federal agencies, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management among them, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov

Green, a funder’s return. Hollow, a filing. Every row is a record we hold: 42 comments filed under its own name, 5 funders whose returns name it. Nothing here is written from memory.

Their ground

The places they defend

See every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.

Where and what
Federal landsU.S. Forest Service · Bureau of Land Management · Fish & Wildlife Service · National Park Service · Bureau of Reclamation
The family, on the record

The Nature Conservancy files 6 related organizations on its return: Anne Ray Foundation (501(c)(3)), Belize Maya Forest Trust, Blue Investments for Nature INC (501(c)(3)), Conservation Farms & Ranches (501(c)(3)), Ecological Trust Fund of Panama (501(c)(4)) and Fundacion the Nature Conservancy of Panama. A related organization shares people or purpose; it does not share the books.

More groups in Virginia

Ways in

How to help

Stand with the Nature Conservancy

The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.

Sources and methodFinancials, headcounts, and program text: IRS Form 990, FY2025 and 13 prior filings via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, EIN 53-0242652. Leadership and compensation: Form 990 Part VII and the return’s signature block, FY2025 filing. Grantees: Schedule I, same filing. Related organizations: Schedule R of the same filing, matched to our directory by EIN. Funders: the funders’ own returns (Schedule I and 990-PF Part XV) via ProPublica, names and years only. Lobbying: Senate LDA filings naming the Nature Conservancy as client or registrant, read from the MTJP LDA corpus. Agency comments: regulations.gov comments whose submitter organization is the group’s own name, each row linked to the comment itself. Place links: MTJP editorial curation with per-link sources. Org-reported figures are always labeled. Data verified as of 2026-09-23. Nothing on this page is pay-to-play.