MountainTrue's Mission Statement: MountainTrue champions resilient forests, clean waters, and healthy communities across the Southern Blue Ridge.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
84¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$130K paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

Before you give

FY2021 · 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 $419K a year · 15% 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
84%
of spending
Looks good: 84% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$130K
to officers and key staff · 7% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 7% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
9 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 9.0 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
5
named funders · $228K
Looks good: 5 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$60K
4% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 4% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
14
of 14 voting members
Looks good: 14 of 14 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$2.3M
+49% vs prior year
Spent
$1.8M
To programs
84%
Net assets
$1.5M
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$2.3M
FY2021▲ +49%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$1.6M
FY2021$2.3M
FY2022$2.2M
FY2023$2.5M
FY2024$5.1M
Expenses
$1.8M
FY2021▲ +6%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$1.7M
FY2021$1.8M
FY2022$2.1M
FY2023$2.5M
FY2024$3.6M
Net assets
$1.5M
FY2021▲ +72%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$848K
FY2021$1.5M
FY2022$1.6M
FY2023$1.6M
FY2024$3.1M

From the FY2021 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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You’re viewing the FY2021 filing — not the latest on file. See the latest (FY2024) →

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Jan 1985.

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

Where the money goes

84 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 84% · $1.5M Management & general 7% · $117K Fundraising 9% · $168K

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

16 people listed on the 990; $130K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Co-Director
$65,199Pt VII · Sec A
Co-Director
$64,685Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Vice-Chair
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Treasurer
$0Pt VII · Sec A
At-Large Executive Committee Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Robert Wagner’s $85K as Director is at the 15th 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 · 2 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Robert Wagner$84,550$81,272$65,959$64,685$63,395
Julie Mayfield——$60,386$65,199$63,827

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

Protects forests, waters, and communities in the Southern Blue Ridge.

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Provided by the organization

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3 programs · $1.5M · in their own filed words · FY2021
01

Clean Water

-Continued to promote the I Love Rivers campaign which is designed to clean up the French Broad River and raise awareness about pathogen sources and solutions across WNC. -Purchased and deployed real-time water quality monitoring probes in 2 streams.

$1.5Mprogram expense
02

Public Lands

Continued to push for a Forest Plant that protects old-growth forests, unroaded areas and the restoration of forests to pre-industrial condition. -Through SELC respresentation, we continue to oppose rules that weaken NEPA. -Hosted a tri-county Bioblitz with 47 participants, 2,900 photgraphic observations and 1,198 species identified.

Pt IX · col B
03

Health Communities

-Continued 20+ years of leadership to improve the I-26 Connector Project. -Collaborated with the City of Asheville and the Asheville Buncombe Community Land Trust to issue requests for proposals for affordable housing projects on City-owned properties -Continued to coordinate and co-host the Building Our City Speaker Series, welcoming…

Pt IX · col B

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 · 2 grants · $31K · 2023–2023
Unitemized GrantFY2023$21,350

By the numbers

The FY2021 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$2.3M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$2.3M
Fees for servicesLn 2g$25K
Other incomeLn 4–11$2K
Money outPt IX
$1.8M
Ln 25
Programscol B$1.5M
Managementcol C$117K
Fundraisingcol D$168K
Owns and owesPt X
$1.5M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$1.3M
Total assetsLn 16$1.5M
LiabilitiesLn 26$60K
PeoplePt VI, VII
16
listed · VII A
PaidVII A2
Voting boardVI 1a14
IndependentVI 1b14
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$2.3M
Government grantsLn 1e$400K
Noncash giftsLn 1g$55K
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$27K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$25K
Investment incomeLn 3$2K
Other incomeLn 4–11$2K
Gains on assetsLn 7−$61
Total revenueLn 12$2.3M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$179K
SavingsLn 2$1.2M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$1.3M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$4K
Other assetsLn 15$4K
Total assetsLn 16$1.5M
LiabilitiesLn 26$60K
Net assetsLn 32$1.5M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 521
VolunteersI 6100
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 FY21End FY21
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$999K$1.3M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$5K$4K
Total assetsLn 16$1.1M$1.5M
LiabilitiesLn 26$260K$60K
Net assetsLn 32$848K$1.5M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$2K$2K
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$4K$4K
Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3$2K$2K
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$139K$101K$21K$17K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$793K$672K$33K$89K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$17K$14K$950$2K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$55K$46K$3K$6K
Payroll taxesLn 10$71K$59K$4K$8K
Accounting feesLn 11c$46K$21K$21K$4K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$234K$225K$3K$5K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$2K$1K$0$442
Office expensesLn 13$31K$15K$4K$13K
Information technologyLn 14$11K$9K$596$1K
OccupancyLn 16$96K$80K$5K$11K
TravelLn 17$31K$31K$79$195
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$10K$5K$4K$36
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$4K$3K$780$0
InsuranceLn 23$13K$5K$8K$512
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$210K$193K$7K$10K
All other expensesLn 24e$6K$3K$2K$252
Total functional expensesLn 25$1.8M$1.5M$117K$168K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 Latest $5.1M$3.6M$1.5M$3.1M 990 PDF
FY2023 $2.5M$2.5M−$38K$1.6M 990 PDF
FY2022 $2.2M$2.1M$166K$1.6M 990 PDF
FY2021 Viewing $2.3M$1.8M$561K$1.5M 990 PDF
FY2020 $1.6M$1.7M−$115K$848K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support M · Noncash O · Explanations
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $2,337,288 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $1,495,387$2,307,969
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $63,957$25,296
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $4,650$1,733
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $4,387$2,290
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $1,568,381$2,337,288
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $4,225$7,840
I-14 Benefits paid to members$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $1,062,025$1,075,291
I-16a Professional fundraising fees$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $616,987$692,777
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $1,683,237$1,775,908
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year −$114,856$561,380
Part VI · Governance 14 of 14 board members independent, no flags
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body14
VI-1b Independent voting members14
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $2,337,288 across 12 lines filed
Lines not itemized here account for $503 of total revenue; see the IRS return.
VIII-1b Membership dues$171,394
VIII-1c Fundraising events$27,454
VIII-1e Government grants$400,270
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$1,708,851
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$54,868
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$2,307,969
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$25,296
VIII-3 Investment incomeUnrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $1,794$1,794
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax −$61−$61
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising eventsUnrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax −$813−$813
VIII-11a-d Other revenue, itemized rows (sum of 11a–11d as filed)Related to mission $2,600 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$2,600
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $27,896 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $1,423$2,337,288
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,775,908 across 20 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizationsPrograms $2,280$2,280
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $4,000$4,000
IX-3 Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsPrograms $1,560$1,560
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $101,288 · Management $20,504 · Fundraising $17,330$139,122
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $671,724 · Management $32,632 · Fundraising $88,638$792,994
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $14,149 · Management $950 · Fundraising $1,952$17,051
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $46,163 · Management $2,675 · Fundraising $6,202$55,040
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $58,988 · Management $4,018 · Fundraising $8,078$71,084
IX-11c Accounting feesPrograms $20,671 · Management $21,452 · Fundraising $4,119$46,242
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $225,371 · Management $3,418 · Fundraising $5,229$234,018
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $1,228 · Management $0 · Fundraising $442$1,670
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $14,512 · Management $3,602 · Fundraising $12,857$30,971
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $8,751 · Management $596 · Fundraising $1,199$10,546
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $80,078 · Management $5,223 · Fundraising $10,502$95,803
IX-17 TravelPrograms $31,213 · Management $79 · Fundraising $195$31,487
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $5,467 · Management $4,228 · Fundraising $36$9,731
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $3,125 · Management $780 · Fundraising $0$3,905
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $4,606 · Management $7,767 · Fundraising $512$12,885
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $192,528 · Management $6,657 · Fundraising $10,446$209,631
IX-24e All other expensesPrograms $3,319 · Management $2,317 · Fundraising $252$5,888
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $1,491,021 · Management $116,898 · Fundraising $167,989$1,775,908
Part X · Balance sheet $1,519,546 assets, 15 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $465,749$178,962
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $532,825$1,159,548
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $50,000$131,486
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $50,415$40,109
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $0$1,760
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $5,492$4,157
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $3,524$3,524
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $1,108,005$1,519,546
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $64,733$60,099
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $0$0
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $259,938$60,099
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $565,268$1,055,867
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $282,799$403,580
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $848,067$1,459,447
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $1,108,005$1,519,546
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,459,447 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$2,337,288
XI-2 Total expenses$1,775,908
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$561,380
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$848,067
XI-8 Prior period adjustments$50,000
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$1,459,447

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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