San Antonio Botanical Garden Society Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
742178792
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
San Antonio, TX, USA
Phone
2105361402
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Botanical Gardens, Arboreta and Botanical Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,925,330
Expenses
$9,111,111
Assets
$50,923,931
Liabilities
$2,461,786

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATHERINE TRUMBLE (CEO)

People named in this filing

  • JULIE WILKINSON (CHAIR)
  • ELAINE KEARNEY (FIRST VICE CHAIR)
  • WILLIAM FISHER (SECRETARY)

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

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the san antonio botanical garden is "enriching lives through plants and nature." nowhere else in the south-central Texas region are people and plants brought together in such a biologically diverse museum of plants and outdoor learning environment.

What it reported doing in 2025

The san antonio botanical garden displays hundreds of thousands of plants and plant collections across our 39 acres. We also propagate and grow more rare and endangered native Texas plants than any other organization in the state. Based on our national reputation for excellence in horticulture, the center for plant conversation has entrusted us to protect and grow 120+ rare plant species. Throughout the year, our horticulture and plant conservation teams travel across Texas to make new horticulture discoveries and protect native plant species. We conduct hundreds of conservation classes for children and adults throughout the year that focus on water conservation and that promote using low-water native plant species for landscaping homes. In september 2025, we launched the garden's most ambitious horticulture project in our 45-year history, the "Texas recovery for ecological and environmental stability" (trees). The purpose of trees is to reforest the guadalupe river corridor, which sustained massive loss of trees and vegetation due to the historic and devastating flood of july 2025. The goal of this 3-5 year project is to replace 50,000 trees and help restore the ecological viability of kerr county and the Texas hill country region.

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 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

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: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.8%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 82%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 16th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.6%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.59; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.5% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.8% of revenue deployed · 82% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $7.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 32 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.