The purpose of the Trust is to serve as a focal point for the receipt and administration of gifts, grants, devises and bequests of real and personal property to further conservation, outdoor recreation, historic preservation and waterfront and community revitalization.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
86¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$291K paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

Before you give

FY2026 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2026
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2026, this tax year; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
4 of 7
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $2.0M a year · 12% of revenue · last 7 filings
Worth a look: a surplus in 4 of the last 7 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 7 filings
Spent on programs
86%
of spending
Looks good: 86% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$291K
to officers and key staff · 2% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 2% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
1 mo
of spending, in cash
Fine: 1.1 months of spending in cash; 1 to 3.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
2
named funders · $357K
Fine: 2 funders name it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$4.7M
7% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 7% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
4
of 4 voting members
Looks good: 4 of 4 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$13.5M
<0.01% vs prior year
Spent
$13.5M
To programs
86%
Net assets
$65.2M
By yearFY2020–FY2026
Revenue
$13.5M
FY2026<0.01%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$15.6M
FY2021$20.0M
FY2022$23.9M
FY2023$16.5M
FY2024$15.7M
FY2025$13.5M
FY2026$13.5M
Expenses
$13.5M
FY2026▼ -13%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$12.5M
FY2021$14.0M
FY2022$15.4M
FY2023$16.9M
FY2024$16.5M
FY2025$15.6M
FY2026$13.5M
Net assets
$65.2M
FY2026▲ +7%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$49.9M
FY2021$55.8M
FY2022$62.7M
FY2023$59.2M
FY2024$61.9M
FY2025$61.1M
FY2026$65.2M

From the FY2026 Form 990 (year ending March 2026) · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2026. IRS ruling in Aug 1997.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

86 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 86% · $11.6M Management & general 14% · $1.9M

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

6 people listed on the 990; $291K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2025); the FY2026 filing did not itemize Part VII
Executive Director
$148,292Pt VII · Sec A
Deputy Director/CFO
$142,645Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 6 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2026FY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021
Sally Drake$148,292$141,638$147,506$142,425$136,500—
Sarah Purcell$142,645$137,045$136,802$131,875$124,868$112,894
Allen Payne Through 9302020—————$134,314
Allen Payne——————
Paul Laudato——————
Sally Drake Effective 1012020—————$28,188

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

See Natural Heritage Trust executive salaries →

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Manages gifts and grants to advance conservation, recreation, historic preservation, and community revitalization.

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Provided by the organization

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1 program · $11.6M · in their own filed words · FY2025
01

See Schedule O

The trust accomplishes its mission by accepting donations, raising funds, and through cooperative programs and projects with its agency partners: new york state office of parks, recreation and historic preservation (oprhp), department of environmental conservation (dec) and the department of state (dos).

$11.6Mprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2025
Total grants receivedfrom 2 funders$357K
Grants paid · 36 grants · $32.2M · 2020–2025
Nys Office of Parks Recreation & Historic PreservationFY2025$851,856
Palisades Interstate Park CommissionFY2025$110,000
Parks & Trails New York INCNY · FY2025$15,000
Nys Office of Parks Recreation & Historic PreservationFY2024$3,041,128
Palisades Interstate Park CommissionFY2024$110,000
Perry Central School DistrictFY2024$21,026
Nys Dept of Environmental ConservationFY2024$17,496
Town of NewcombFY2024$15,000
Town of North HudsonFY2024$15,000
Town of Long LakeFY2024$15,000
Town of MinervaFY2024$14,918
Town of Indian LakeFY2024$11,650
Buffalo United Front INCNY · FY2024$5,400
Nys OprhpFY2023$4,207,521
Comptroller - State of New YorkFY2023$980,000
See all 36 grants →

By the numbers

The FY2026 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$13.5M
Ln 12
Fees for servicesLn 2g$7.4M
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$4.1M
Investment incomeLn 3$2.1M
Money outPt IX
$13.5M
Ln 25
Programscol B$11.6M
Managementcol C$1.9M
Owns and owesPt X
$65.2M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$1.2M
Total assetsLn 16$69.9M
LiabilitiesLn 26$4.7M
PeoplePt VI, VII
6
listed · VII A
PaidVII A2
Voting boardVI 1a4
IndependentVI 1b4
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$4.1M
Fees for servicesLn 2g$7.4M
Investment incomeLn 3$2.1M
Other incomeLn 4–11$11K
Gains on assetsLn 7$169K
Total revenueLn 12$13.5M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
SavingsLn 2$1.2M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$1.2M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$66.5M
Other assetsLn 15$1.4M
Total assetsLn 16$69.9M
LiabilitiesLn 26$4.7M
Net assetsLn 32$65.2M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 579
VolunteersI 60
Fiscal year endsHeaderMarch
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY26End FY26
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$978K$1.2M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$62.3M$66.5M
Total assetsLn 16$66.2M$69.9M
LiabilitiesLn 26$5.1M$4.7M
Net assetsLn 32$61.1M$65.2M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$1.0M$1.0M
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$4.5M$3.8M$725K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$2.3M$1.4M$892K
Management feesLn 11a$549K$549K
Investment management feesLn 11f$101K$61K$40K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$1.2M$1.1M$100K
Office expensesLn 13$27K$21K$5K
Information technologyLn 14$51K$7K$44K
OccupancyLn 16$34K$34K
TravelLn 17$37K$36K$1K
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$15K$15K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$3.1M$3.1M$3K
All other expensesLn 24e$536K$485K$51K
Total functional expensesLn 25$13.5M$11.6M$1.9M$0

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2026 Latest Viewing $13.5M$13.5M$48K$65.2M 990 PDF
FY2025 $13.5M$15.6M−$2.1M$61.1M 990 PDF
FY2024 $15.7M$16.5M−$820K$61.9M 990 PDF
FY2023 $16.5M$16.9M−$399K$59.2M 990 PDF
FY2022 $23.9M$15.4M$8.4M$62.7M 990 PDF
FY2021 $20.0M$14.0M$5.9M$55.8M 990 PDF
FY2020 $15.6M$12.5M$3.2M$49.9M 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support O · Explanations
See the full FY2026 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $13,545,700 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $3,165,500$4,078,100
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $8,351,851$7,374,590
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $1,982,223$2,081,918
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $45,290$11,092
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $13,544,864$13,545,700
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $3,499,274$1,041,847
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $6,061,113$6,800,479
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $6,043,993$5,655,661
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $15,604,380$13,497,987
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year −$2,059,516$47,713
Part VI · Governance 4 of 4 board members independent, no flags
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body4
VI-1b Independent voting members4
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $13,545,700 across 7 lines filed
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$4,078,100
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$4,078,100
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $7,374,590$7,374,590
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $1,912,759$1,912,759
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax $169,159$169,159
VIII-11a-d Other revenue, itemized rows (sum of 11a–11d as filed)Excluded from tax $11,092$11,092
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $7,374,590 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $2,093,010$13,545,700
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $13,497,987 across 13 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizationsPrograms $1,041,847$1,041,847
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $3,824,696 · Management $724,861$4,549,557
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $1,359,373 · Management $891,549$2,250,922
IX-11a Management feesPrograms $549,062$549,062
IX-11f Investment management feesPrograms $61,206 · Management $39,966$101,172
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $1,138,983 · Management $100,496$1,239,479
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $21,205 · Management $5,419$26,624
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $7,439 · Management $43,714$51,153
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $33,949$33,949
IX-17 TravelPrograms $36,250 · Management $1,107$37,357
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $15,020$15,020
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $3,062,779 · Management $3,496$3,066,275
IX-24e All other expensesPrograms $484,745 · Management $50,825$535,570
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $11,636,554 · Management $1,861,433 · Fundraising $0$13,497,987
Part X · Balance sheet $69,866,415 assets, 13 lines filed
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $978,179$1,203,391
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $866,440$688,592
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $20,776,304$21,589,984
X-12 Other securitiesStart of year $41,566,349$44,938,639
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $2,057,149$1,445,809
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $66,244,421$69,866,415
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $382,111$555,563
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $4,760,929$4,107,710
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $5,143,040$4,663,273
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $2,830,185$3,374,406
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $58,271,196$61,828,736
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $61,101,381$65,203,142
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $66,244,421$69,866,415
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $65,203,142 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$13,545,700
XI-2 Total expenses$13,497,987
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$47,713
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$61,101,381
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$4,054,048
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$65,203,142

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2026 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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