Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Dec 1965.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
88 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
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
18 people listed on the 990; $816K paid to officers and key staff.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin McAleese | $200,000 | $192,509 | $192,528 | $168,084 | $162,210 | $147,941 |
| Heidi Peterson | $170,195 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Heidi Peterson PHD | — | $161,014 | $163,694 | $153,777 | $144,287 | $131,370 |
| Timothy Male PHD | — | — | $135,366 | $155,013 | $133,976 | $127,177 |
| Chris Schellpfeffer | — | — | $142,775 | — | — | — |
| Christina Schellpfeffer | $139,533 | $133,514 | — | $133,983 | $123,177 | $119,710 |
| Lance Irving | $132,295 | $126,924 | $128,917 | $126,088 | $120,822 | — |
| Kemper Durand | — | — | — | $127,665 | $121,381 | $120,416 |
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.
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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
Inspires and enables private landowners to ethically manage natural resources through conservation programs and the prestigious Leopold Conservation Award.
Questions for The Sand County Foundation INC
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Conservation Policy and Influence
Through its conservation policy initiative, the foundation uses some of the same principles from its body of work to build and support ecosystem-scale species conservation models, greater access to safe drinking water supplies, and better use of data technology to achieve ecosystem restoration.
Agricultural Conservation
The foundation's agricultural conservation program demonstrates land management practices that protect soil and water, utilize them more efficiently, and maximize the environmental benefits and productive capacity of agricultural systems.
Leopold Conservation Award
The leopold conservation award recognizes farmers, ranchers and foresters for achievements in conservation on working land. With prominent partners in many states across the U.S., the foundation presents the annual awards in settings that showcase the landowners' conservation success among their peers.
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 | $416K | $2.0M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $11.1M | $12.6M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $5K | $3K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $12.3M | $15.5M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $233K | $352K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $12.0M | $15.1M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $126K | $126K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $150K | $150K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $192K | $171K | $15K | $6K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $1.8M | $1.6M | $141K | $60K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $60K | $53K | $5K | $2K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $177K | $158K | $14K | $6K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $141K | $125K | $11K | $5K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $5K | $5K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $62K | $62K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $935 | $935 | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $43K | $43K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $549K | $535K | $13K | $405 |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $39K | $15K | $23K | $547 |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $93K | $82K | $8K | $3K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $22K | $8K | $13K | $309 |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $72K | $68K | $3K | $1K |
| TravelLn 17 | $71K | $66K | $5K | |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $90K | $84K | $5K | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $2K | $652 | $1K | $24 |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $8K | $3K | $5K | $111 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $32K | $30K | $2K | $904 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $3.7M | $3.3M | $374K | $86K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $4.2M | $4.9M | −$736K | $12.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $4.1M | $9.6M | −$5.5M | $12.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $7.3M | $7.5M | −$209K | $16.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $9.6M | $6.6M | $3.0M | $15.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 Viewing | $6.2M | $3.7M | $2.4M | $15.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $3.3M | $3.0M | $334K | $12.0M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $6,154,396 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 11 of 12 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $6,154,396 across 7 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $3,741,399 across 21 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $15,482,706 assets, 16 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $15,130,305 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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