Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Jun 2000.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
97 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
19 people listed on the 990; $94K paid to officers and key staff.
Joseph Leslie’s $106K as Real Estate is at the 5th percentile of top reported officer pay among 324 $10–100M 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 · 2 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Leslie | $105,733 | $105,316 | — | — |
| Derek C Schafer | $97,330 | $92,932 | $94,073 | $89,636 |
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 West Creek 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
Conserving habitats, restoring lands and waters, and connecting people to nature in Northeast Ohio.
Questions for West Creek Conservancy
Your first name shows with your question. West Creek Conservancy answers here, for everyone.
West creek conservancy (fka west creek preservation committee) protects and restores natural areas, open spaces, stream and water resources throughout northeast ohio. In a strategic watershed restoration approach, we're actively reclaiming unsustainably developed lands in order to restore their functionality and ecological integrity.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $1.1M | $1.1M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $1.6M | $1.5M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $2.9M | $2.9M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $1.2M | $908K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $1.7M | $2.0M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $89K | $59K | $23K | $7K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $255K | $174K | $76K | $5K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $39K | $26K | $11K | $1K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $27K | $18K | $8K | $918 |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $9K | $7K | $2K | |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $12K | $1K | $11K | $62 |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $105K | $84K | $15K | $7K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $31K | $7K | $21K | $3K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $16K | $9K | $5K | $1K |
| TravelLn 17 | $6K | $2K | $560 | $3K |
| InterestLn 20 | $10K | $10K | $153 | |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $15K | $6K | $9K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $7.2M | $7.2M | ||
| All other expensesLn 24e | $530K | $487K | $30K | $13K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $8.3M | $8.1M | $212K | $41K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 LatestFiled with the IRS Nov 3, 2025 | $13.9M | $12.7M | $1.2M | $6.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Nov 8, 2024 | $12.9M | $10.7M | $2.2M | $5.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Aug 24, 2023 | $10.9M | $9.9M | $1.1M | $3.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 ViewingFiled with the IRS Oct 20, 2022 | $8.6M | $8.3M | $233K | $2.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020Filed with the IRS Aug 3, 2021 | $6.6M | $7.8M | −$1.2M | $1.7M | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $8,563,674 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 18 of 18 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $8,563,674 across 9 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $8,330,836 across 14 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $2,888,241 assets, 13 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,980,289 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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