Friends Charleston National Parks

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
311755700
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2018, Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2008
Location
Charleston, SC, USA
Phone
0000000000
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Land Resources Conservation

Reported finances

Revenue
$117,571
Expenses
$92,440
Assets
$278,040
Liabilities
$142,899

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • J BRETT BENNETT (PRESIDENT)
  • CLIFF ROBERTS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • CHERI YATES (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • J BRETT BENNETT (PRESIDENT)
  • CLIFF ROBERTS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • HUGH LANE III (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the friends of charleston national parks is to support the national park service in promoting and protecting local historic cultural and natural resources and educating the public about their significance as national treasures

What it reported doing in 2025

The organization is the friends group for charleston national parks including fort sumter fort moultrie and charles pinckney the trust is a charitable organization dedicated to preserving and utilizing these american treasures for the common good the trust supports charlestons national parks with privately funded programs and activities beyond the resources of the national park service beyond supporting special events at each of the parks such as carolina day at fort moultrie constitution day at charles pinckney and the us mints fort moultrie quarter release the trust assisted the park in celebrating the centennial of the national park service

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.9%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 94%; rating input score 94

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 21.4%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.01; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.51; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 48.8%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.9% of revenue deployed · 94% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $87K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 9/100.