Swan Conservation Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621533892
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2010
Location
Summertown, TN, US
Phone
931.964.4402
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Land Resources Conservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$92,476
Expenses
$27,677
Assets
$1,726,508
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMES MOORE (President)
  • ROSE CROCKETT (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • JAMES MOORE (President)
  • CAROL NELSON (Secretary)
  • MICHAEL A LEE (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. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To preserve the Western Highland Rim's natural heritage through land acquisition, hands-on restoration, and a steadfast commitment to conservation education.

What it reported doing in 2024

Swan Trusts Protection Program includes educational outreach to promote protection of Tennessees Western Highland Rim through plant, bird, arthropod, and amphibian identification hikes, annual newsletters, and childrens environmental programs. It also includes scientific research by colleges and universities. In 2024, Tennessee State University graduate students began surveying creeks on Big Swan Headwaters Preserve for the State-endangered Hellbender Salamander. Swan Trust provided 8 events between April and September with experts in botany, biology, ecology, ornithology, and biodiversity for public education. A calendar of these events was printed and mailed to 600 residents of Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama and posted on the website. Two additional events were held to pick up litter in order to keep it out of streams and the Langford Branch State Natural Area. In 2024, Swan Trusts volunteer biologist met with students in a local school on fifteen occasions to perform fall seed collections and spring seed planting, to explore a wetland, to sample creek macroinvertebrates, and to begin birdwatching skills. Swan Trust volunteers provided tubs of macroinvertebrates from Big Swan Creek at the Hohenwald October Heritage Festival to teach children about biodiversity and water quality.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% 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 - 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: 43
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 87
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 26.5%; rating input score 27
  • Program expense ratio: 62.8%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.21 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 70.1%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 62.38; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 26.5% of revenue deployed · 62.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $17K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 27/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.