Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 472407669
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Asheville, NC, USA
- Phone
- 8287851517
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Environmental Beautification and Aesthetics
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,019,905
- Expenses
- $1,715,760
- Assets
- $771,664
- Liabilities
- $257,495
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Kaitlin de Varona (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Kaitlin de Varona (Executive Director): $97,163 total reported compensation
- Rebekah Morrisson (Program Director): $61,996 total reported compensation
- Tracy Harrell (Finance Director): $58,814 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
SAWS sets standards of excellence that inspire, connect, and equip people to steward wild public lands. SAWS provides trail maintenance, restoration, construction, ranger patrols, and disaster recovery in remote and wilderness areas; offers technical training in stewardship and crosscut saw use; and engages communities, volunteers, and the public in transformational conservation and education efforts.
What it reported doing in 2024
As we reflect on 2025, we are filled with gratitude for a year of resilience, service, and impact. Despite the challenges brought by Hurricane Helene, SAWS staff stepped up to support communities across the region while continuing to steward some of the Southeasts most treasured public lands. We are especially grateful for the steadfast partnership of the U.S. Forest Service and other collaborators who helped make this work possible. In the wake of the storm, our crews assisted with recovery efforts before returning to the backcountry to advance our conservation mission. Through difficult conditions and extensive trail damage, our team remained committed to restoring access, protecting natural resources, and serving public lands with dedication and care. 2025 was also the largest field season in SAWS history, with more than 50,000 stewardship hours completed, 35 new jobs created, over 100 miles of trail maintained, and work carried out across 31 wilderness and wild areas in six states. A new multi-year Hurricane Helene recovery partnership will help us expand year-round conservation careers, providing greater stability, benefits, and opportunities for the next generation of public lands stewards.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 84% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 44
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 68.3%; rating input score 68
- Program expense ratio: 80.5%; rating input score 81
- Fundraising efficiency: $31.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- 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: 15.1%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.45; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.7%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 68.3% of revenue deployed · 80.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $97K · 15 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.