The Wilderness Society

Tax-deductible

Washington, DC501(c)(3)Since 1937EnvironmentEIN 53-0167933

The wilderness society works to protect america's public lands from threats like development and privatization, so wild places remain intact, accessible and available for future generations.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
75¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 32 volunteers and 178 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2024 · 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
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
3 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $4.5M a year · 10% of revenue · last 5 filings
Worth a look: a surplus in 3 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
75%
of spending
Looks good: 75% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$3.7M
to officers and key staff · 10% of spending
Top officer’s pay higher than 78% of similar orgs
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 10% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
Cash reserves
6 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 6.5 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
5
named funders · $17K
Looks good: 5 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$25.0M
20% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 20% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
28
of 28 voting members
Looks good: 28 of 28 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$38.3M
-9% vs prior year
Spent
$38.0M
To programs
75%
Net assets
$102.1M
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$38.3M
FY2024▼ -9%
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$39.5M
FY2021$42.0M
FY2022$62.6M
FY2023$39.2M
FY2024$42.0M
FY2024$38.3M
Expenses
$38.0M
FY2024▼ -12%
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$33.9M
FY2021$35.2M
FY2022$42.8M
FY2023$47.4M
FY2024$43.5M
FY2024$38.0M
Net assets
$102.1M
FY2024▲ +9%
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$67.1M
FY2021$81.3M
FY2022$85.8M
FY2023$83.5M
FY2024$93.3M
FY2024$102.1M

From the FY2024 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

Give Claim

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in May 1942.

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

Where the money goes

75 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 75% · $28.6M Management & general 5% · $1.8M Fundraising 20% · $7.6M

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

Who runs it and what they're paid

48 people listed on the 990; $3.7M paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
President (to Sep '24)
$374,838Pt VII · Sec A
$373,570Pt VII · Sec A
Chief of Staff (to Oct '24)
$357,458Pt VII · Sec A
VP of External Affairs
$267,373Pt VII · Sec A
VP Strategy & Results
$259,030Pt VII · Sec A
VP, People & Culture (to Jan '25)
$252,170Pt VII · Sec A
Acting VP, Giving & Impact
$250,186Pt VII · Sec A
SR Dir, National Campaigns (to Jul '24)
$222,264Pt VII · Sec A

Jamie Williams’s $375K as President (to Sep '24) is at the 78th 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 · 8 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Jamie Williams$374,838$449,985$392,544$395,476$395,530$377,239
David Seabrook$373,570$336,905$270,837$228,256$180,401—
Elvis Cordova$357,458$286,915————
Teresa Lane—$316,536$282,918$273,181$258,494$262,059
Monique Dailey$165,028$201,627$285,580$185,613——
Melyssa L Watson——$273,367$266,226$263,251$251,968
Katharine L Thomas——$273,061$269,348$235,081$227,837
Lauren Gephart$267,373$269,408$160,381$154,856——

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 Wilderness Society 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 2Yes
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Protects America's public lands and wild places by collaborating with policymakers and communities to advance conservation policies and transition to net-zero emissions.

Provided by the organization

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3 program services account for $24.2M of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2024.
01

Connect, Protect, Steward Lands

America's public lands face serious threats from efforts to open them to extractive industries like oil, gas and mining; rollbacks of existing protections for national monuments and wilderness areas; proposals to sell or transfer federal lands to state or private ownership; and cuts to the agencies that manage these places.

$15.6Mprogram expense
02

Equitable Access

Equitable access to hike, camp, and recreate on federal lands is a key principle for ensuring communities benefit from and love their public lands. We are committed to the ideal that wilderness and all public lands can bring people and communities together and that everyone should share equitably in their benefits.

$4.5Mprogram expense
03

Climate Solutions

Public lands are home to important wildlife habitat, migration corridors, recreation areas, and cultural resources valued by communities, tribes, and the multi-billion dollar outdoor economy. At the same time, the western U.S.

$4.1Mprogram expense

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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
See all 5 funders →
Grants paid · 662 grants · $21.1M · 2019–2024
Wilderness Society Action FundDC · FY2024$150,000
Vet Voice Foundation INCDC · FY2024$110,000
Resources Legacy FundCA · FY2024$85,000
Wilderness WorkshopCO · FY2024$60,000
GreenlatinosCO · FY2024$55,250
Unitemized GrantFY2024$50,000
Rising Routes AllianceFY2024$42,000
Community InitiativesCA · FY2024$35,000
Outdoor AfroCA · FY2024$30,000
The Grand Canyon Trust INCAZ · FY2024$30,000
Alaska Wilderness LeagueDC · FY2024$25,000
Semilla ProjectNM · FY2024$23,000
First Presbyterian Church of Santa FeFY2024$22,500
See all 662 grants →

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$38.3M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$35.3M
Investment incomeLn 3$2.6M
Fees for servicesLn 2g$201K
Money outPt IX
$38.0M
Ln 25
Programscol B$28.6M
Managementcol C$1.8M
Fundraisingcol D$7.6M
Owns and owesPt X
$102.1M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$20.7M
Total assetsLn 16$127.1M
LiabilitiesLn 26$25.0M
PeoplePt VI, VII
48
listed · VII A
PaidVII A15
Voting boardVI 1a28
IndependentVI 1b28
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$35.3M
Noncash giftsLn 1g$1.5M
Fees for servicesLn 2g$201K
Investment incomeLn 3$2.6M
Other incomeLn 4–11$160K
Gains on assetsLn 7$506K
Total revenueLn 12$38.3M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$2.9M
SavingsLn 2$17.8M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$20.7M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$73.3M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$2.4M
Other assetsLn 15$19.8M
Total assetsLn 16$127.1M
LiabilitiesLn 26$25.0M
Net assetsLn 32$102.1M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 5178
VolunteersI 632
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
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 FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$16.7M$20.7M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$63.5M$73.3M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$2.7M$2.4M
Total assetsLn 16$119.1M$127.1M
LiabilitiesLn 26$25.8M$25.0M
Net assetsLn 32$93.3M$102.1M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$1.5M$1.5M
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$58K$58K
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$2.5M$1.9M$86K$520K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$14.2M$10.8M$486K$3.0M
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$749K$588K$26K$136K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$2.7M$2.1M$92K$483K
Payroll taxesLn 10$1.2M$923K$40K$213K
Legal feesLn 11b$380K$295K$16K$69K
Accounting feesLn 11c$167K$129K$7K$30K
Lobbying feesLn 11d$65K$51K$3K$12K
Professional fundraising feesLn 11e$150K$150K
Investment management feesLn 11f$86K$86K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$4.8M$3.7M$199K$827K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$1.2M$859K$13K$347K
Office expensesLn 13$3.5M$2.5M$53K$983K
Information technologyLn 14$100K$67K$14K$20K
OccupancyLn 16$2.5M$1.6M$467K$440K
TravelLn 17$887K$668K$48K$170K
InterestLn 20$1K$872$150$150
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$326K$243K$42K$42K
InsuranceLn 23$108K$72K$15K$21K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$870K$588K$96K$186K
All other expensesLn 24e$16K$10K$2K$3K
Total functional expensesLn 25$38.0M$28.6M$1.8M$7.6M

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 $42.0M$43.5M−$1.4M$93.3M 990 PDF
FY2023 $39.2M$47.4M−$8.2M$83.5M 990 PDF
FY2022 $62.6M$42.8M$19.9M$85.8M 990 PDF
FY2021 $42.0M$35.2M$6.8M$81.3M 990 PDF
FY2020 $39.5M$33.9M$5.6M$67.1M 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
See the full FY2024 990 (4 parts)
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $38,258,071 across 8 lines filed
Lines not itemized here account for $70,966 of total revenue; see the IRS return.
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$35,290,024
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$1,454,797
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$35,290,024
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $200,954$200,954
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $2,100,664$2,100,664
VIII-5 RoyaltiesExcluded from tax $89,185$89,185
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax $506,278$506,278
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $200,954 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $2,767,093$38,258,071
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $38,049,546 across 23 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizationsPrograms $1,529,833$1,529,833
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $57,853$57,853
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $1,922,332 · Management $86,469 · Fundraising $520,240$2,529,041
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $10,765,723 · Management $485,874 · Fundraising $2,964,988$14,216,585
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $587,790 · Management $25,707 · Fundraising $135,774$749,271
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $2,092,359 · Management $91,506 · Fundraising $483,318$2,667,183
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $923,137 · Management $40,372 · Fundraising $213,237$1,176,746
IX-11b Legal feesPrograms $294,946 · Management $16,333 · Fundraising $69,186$380,465
IX-11c Accounting feesPrograms $129,085 · Management $7,148 · Fundraising $30,279$166,512
IX-11d Lobbying feesPrograms $50,520 · Management $2,798 · Fundraising $11,850$65,168
IX-11e Professional fundraising feesFundraising $149,820$149,820
IX-11f Investment management feesManagement $85,717$85,717
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $3,734,110 · Management $198,606 · Fundraising $826,807$4,759,523
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $858,668 · Management $12,990 · Fundraising $346,886$1,218,544
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $2,456,293 · Management $52,815 · Fundraising $983,300$3,492,408
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $66,666 · Management $13,913 · Fundraising $19,518$100,097
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $1,590,162 · Management $466,883 · Fundraising $440,180$2,497,225
IX-17 TravelPrograms $668,397 · Management $47,979 · Fundraising $170,465$886,841
IX-20 InterestPrograms $872 · Management $150 · Fundraising $150$1,172
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $242,742 · Management $41,660 · Fundraising $41,677$326,079
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $71,833 · Management $14,991 · Fundraising $21,030$107,854
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $588,096 · Management $96,274 · Fundraising $185,544$869,914
IX-24e All other expensesPrograms $10,454 · Management $2,181 · Fundraising $3,060$15,695
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $28,641,871 · Management $1,790,366 · Fundraising $7,617,309$38,049,546
Part X · Balance sheet $127,136,338 assets, 18 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $3,189,623$2,916,017
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $13,507,208$17,809,425
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $14,954,745$10,437,905
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $330$0
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $600,401$429,816
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $2,722,121$2,396,042
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $63,198,451$72,993,534
X-12 Other securitiesStart of year $315,340$314,962
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $20,601,504$19,838,637
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $119,089,723$127,136,338
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $3,044,137$3,581,912
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $56,699$54,202
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $22,650,575$21,412,396
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $25,751,411$25,048,510
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $47,143,041$57,025,915
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $46,195,271$45,061,913
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $93,338,312$102,087,828
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $119,089,723$127,136,338
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $102,087,828 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$38,258,071
XI-2 Total expenses$38,049,546
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$208,525
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$93,338,312
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$7,883,549
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$657,442
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$102,087,828

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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