Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 232882145
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Phone
- 4126827275
- Rating
- 74
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Parks and Playgrounds
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $8,526,504
- Expenses
- $7,682,888
- Assets
- $20,484,352
- Liabilities
- $1,056,149
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
47 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CATHERINE QURESHI (PRESIDENT/CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- CATHERINE QURESHI (PRESIDENT/CEO): $295,812 total reported compensation
- JAMES SNOW (CHIEF ADMINISTRATION OFFIC): $185,172 total reported compensation
- ROSS CHAPMAN (CHIEF OF OPERATIONS): $162,999 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We improve quality of life by enhancing and stewarding pittsburgh's parks in partnership with the community.
What it reported doing in 2024
This program advances long-range planning and community-driven capital investment strategies for pittsburgh's parks. The pittsburgh parks conservancy works collaboratively with residents, public agencies, community organizations, philanthropic partners, and elected officials to develop plans and projects that improve public access, ecological health, recreational opportunities, and neighborhood connectivity across the parks system. Through stakeholder engagement, technical planning expertise, and cross-sector partnerships, the conservancy helps guide park improvement projects from conceptual vision through project development and implementation while strengthening long-term public and philanthropic support for pittsburgh's parks.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 82% 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
SUPPORTED - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 69
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 61
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 74.3%; rating input score 74
- Program expense ratio: 72%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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: 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: 9.9%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.67; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -5.2% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 74.3% of revenue deployed · 72% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 41 of 41 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $5.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $296K · 47 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.7M reported
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.