Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in May 2007.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
63 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
17 people listed on the 990; $164K paid to officers and key staff.
Darlene Heater’s $204K as Executive Director is at the 85th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1851 $1–10M environment nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 4 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darlene Heater | $204,125 | $109,477 | — | — | — |
| Tom McGquire | — | — | $160,837 | $148,269 | — |
| Leslie Wade | — | — | $50,180 | $59,408 | $95,775 |
| Harry Lesesne | — | — | — | — | $68,458 |
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 Charleston Parks Conservancy executive salaries →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
Inspires Charleston residents to connect with parks, creating beautiful public spaces and a strong community.
Questions for Charleston Parks Conservancy
Your first name shows with your question. Charleston Parks Conservancy answers here, for everyone.
Park Renovations
The park renovations program is aimed at restoring, rejuvenating, and reinventing community parks and green spaces by replacing outdated equipment, adding significant horticultural features, and redesigning existing parks for optimal use.
Garden in the Parks
Through the garden in the parks program, the conservancy provides care and maintenance to more than 20 parks and greenspaces. Volunteers care for and manage these spaces as if they were their own gardens. In 2020, community volunteers provided over 5,700 hours of service.
Community Programming
The conservancy's community engagement programming includes community gardening, and many free or low-cost park-related community events. Through the community gardening program, the conservancy maintains three community gardens and provides opportunities to lease garden plots, learn to garden naturally, provide fresh food for local food…
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $1.4M | $1.0M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $8.4M | $8.7M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $52K | $36K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $9.9M | $9.8M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $177K | $152K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $9.7M | $9.7M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $164K | $111K | $17K | $36K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $695K | $471K | $71K | $153K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $24K | $14K | $5K | $5K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $103K | $60K | $21K | $22K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $62K | $42K | $6K | $14K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $2K | $148 | $771 | $771 |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $56K | $5K | $26K | $26K |
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $15K | $15K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $80K | $7K | $36K | $36K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $55K | $13K | $43K | |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $8K | $4K | $2K | $2K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $19K | $19K | ||
| OccupancyLn 16 | $78K | $78K | $28 | |
| TravelLn 17 | $11K | $5K | $4K | $2K |
| InterestLn 20 | $1K | $1K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $15K | $15K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $12K | $1K | $11K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $419K | $398K | $4K | $17K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $55K | $38K | $6K | $12K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $1.9M | $1.2M | $319K | $368K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 LatestFiled with the IRS Jun 12, 2025 | $3.8M | $2.3M | $1.6M | $8.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Jul 10, 2024 | $1.1M | $2.1M | −$970K | $8.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Aug 29, 2023 | $1.1M | $2.2M | −$1.1M | $8.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS Jun 17, 2022 | $1.6M | $1.5M | $101K | $10.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 ViewingFiled with the IRS May 11, 2021 | $1.2M | $1.9M | −$653K | $9.7M | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,220,501 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 16 of 16 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,220,501 across 10 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,873,999 across 19 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $9,805,236 assets, 12 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $9,653,035 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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