The Wildlands Conservancy
Overview
Mission
The Wildlands Conservancy protects and preserves the natural beauty and biodiversity of California's wildlands, providing free public access and outdoor education to connect people with nature.
What it reported doing in 2024
See Schedule OLand Conservation and Rewilding: Since its founding in 1995, The Wildlands Conservancy has protected more than 2.3 million acres of public and private lands through advocacy and acquisition, safeguarding ecological connectivity and preserving vast natural landscapes across the American West. Owning land in fee allows the Conservancy to pursue its deepest conservation vision: free outdoor education and public access, active restoration of native habitats, re-wilding species, and stewarding these lands in ways that allow forests, grasslands, and other ecosystems to regenerate naturally. This approach not only supports biodiversity but also strengthens the ability of these landscapes to store carbon, improve watershed health, and be resilient in the face of a rapidly changing climate.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 330676450
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Headquarters
- Pomona, CA, US
- Phone
- (909) 790-0362
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Land Resources Conservation
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filed totals do not add up.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 88
- Transparency & Controls: 76
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 73
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 85.1%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.18 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 96.3%; rating input score 96; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 7.8%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 18.84; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.8%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 85.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $10.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $207K · 14 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.5M reported
- Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 annual filings from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Leadership & pay
14 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Frazier Haney (Executive Director): $207,373 total reported compensation
- David Myers (Former President): $173,900 total reported compensation
- Jennifer Malone (Secretary/HR Director): $114,630 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.