Larkspur Conservation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462657091
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6158540010
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,695,511
Expenses
$965,042
Assets
$4,900,718
Liabilities
$979,399

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jason Dinger (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • John Christian Phifer (Executive Dir.): $112,151 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To preserve and restore land across Tennessee through a revival of natural burial practices that heal the earth and offer sanctuary.

What it reported doing in 2025

Handling natural resource management on land for burial services.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 44
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 25.2%; rating input score 25
  • Program expense ratio: 68.2%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.41 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 64.2%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.08; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.6% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 31.8% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.5% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 25.2% of revenue deployed · 68.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $658K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $112K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.