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
78 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; $847K 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.
See The Sand County Foundation INC executive salaries →On this list? Claim this org
Something off? Claim to add context
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
Your first name shows with your question. The Sand County Foundation INC answers here, for everyone.
Know this org? Add your story
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.
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 that will engage, respect and incentivize private landowners and businesses; address species decline before an endangered species act intervention; and engender…
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 | FY20 | FY19 | FY18 | FY17 | FY16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of yearLn 1g | $10.5M | $6.5M | $5.6M | $6.2M | $6.0M |
| Given inLn 1b | $307K | ||||
| SpentLn 1d–1f | $445K | $337K | $317K | $647K | $405K |
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $106K | $416K |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $9.4M | $11.1M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $7K | $5K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $10.3M | $12.3M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $155K | $233K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $10.1M | $12.0M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $60K | $60K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $143K | $143K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $255K | $202K | $35K | $18K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $1.5M | $1.2M | $212K | $107K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $53K | $42K | $7K | $4K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $147K | $116K | $20K | $10K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $124K | $98K | $17K | $9K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $4K | $975 | $3K | |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $61K | $61K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $11K | $11K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $36K | $36K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $277K | $265K | $8K | $5K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $30K | $8K | $21K | $741 |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $60K | $43K | $11K | $7K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $18K | $5K | $13K | $440 |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $86K | $74K | $6K | $7K |
| TravelLn 17 | $39K | $37K | $2K | $620 |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $13K | $13K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $2K | $474 | $1K | $42 |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $8K | $2K | $6K | $205 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $29K | $23K | $3K | $4K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $3.0M | $2.3M | $462K | $182K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $4.2M | $4.9M | −$736K | $12.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024Filed with the IRS Sep 2, 2025 | $4.1M | $9.6M | −$5.5M | $12.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Aug 27, 2024 | $7.3M | $7.5M | −$209K | $16.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Oct 5, 2023 | $9.6M | $6.6M | $3.0M | $15.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS Oct 5, 2022 | $6.2M | $3.7M | $2.4M | $15.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 ViewingFiled with the IRS Oct 12, 2021 | $3.3M | $3.0M | $334K | $12.0M | 990 PDF |
More to add? Claim this org
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $3,323,113 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 12 of 13 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $3,323,113 across 7 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $2,988,662 across 21 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $12,263,056 assets, 16 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $12,030,141 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
Similar organizations you could support · Compare with another nonprofit
Names, privacy, and removal requests More
The names, titles, and compensation shown on this page are reproduced from IRS Form 990 filings, which are public records.
Philanthropy.org does not alter the content of those filings. All information appears exactly as reported by the filing organization for the tax year shown.
We publish only information contained in the public IRS filing — and less than the filing contains. Our profile pages do not display street addresses, telephone numbers, personal email addresses, or other personal contact information, even where the filing includes them.
Many people share the same name. A name shown on this page reflects only what one organization reported in one IRS filing for one tax year. It should not be interpreted as identifying any other individual with the same or a similar name.
If you are no longer affiliated with the organization, your name will generally stop appearing in future IRS filings once the organization no longer reports you. Pages for tax years in which you were reported remain published because those filings remain part of the public record.
Philanthropy.org does not alter or remove IRS filing records. Removing a page from this website would not remove the underlying IRS filing, which remains publicly available from the IRS and other publishers of the same information.
If you believe the IRS filing itself is inaccurate, corrections must be made by the filing organization or the IRS directly.
Your org? Add context
Made it to the end? Claim this org