Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Jul 2018.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
93 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
11 people listed on the 990; $58K paid to officers and key staff.
Kathryn Prive’s $58K as Executive Director is at the 5th 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 · 4 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kathryn Prive | $58,320 | $54,087 | $33,164 | $20,754 | $16,675 |
| Henry Whitridge | — | — | $26,171 | $5,956 | $9,663 |
| Lilia Letsch | — | — | — | — | $5,438 |
| John Villella | — | $2,100 | $1,395 | — | — |
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 Understory Initiative 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
Restore and conserve native species habitat by partnering with and engaging communities.
Questions for Understory Initiative
Your first name shows with your question. Understory Initiative answers here, for everyone.
Partnership Building and Applied Restoration
In 2024, RNPP (Rogue Native Plant Partnership) completed follow-up monitoring on 16 post-fire huckleberry plots in partnership with the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians.
Ecological Research and Monitoring
In 2024, staff and volunteers with the Rare Plant Monitoring Network contributed a total of 566 hours monitoring 32 species of rare plants. We also completed monitoring of the native McFarlanes four oclock in Idaho and providing recommendations to improve monitoring efforts and recovery actions for the species.
Vesper Meadow Education Program
In 2024, Vesper Meadow continued to blend human healing with land restoration through a variety of community-centered programs and conservation efforts. We expanded the Healing Landscapes program, engaging youth and families particularly from Indigenous communitiesand supported an internship for an SOU student and Siletz Tribal…
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2024 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY24 | End FY24 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $67K | $101K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $19K | $21K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $92K | $282K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $18K | $168K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $73K | $114K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $58K | $47K | $6K | $6K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $531K | $486K | $45K | $0 |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $16K | $15K | $1K | $0 |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $47K | $42K | $4K | $470 |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $56K | $51K | $5K | $563 |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $200 | $0 | $200 | $0 |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $27K | $22K | $4K | $248 |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $293K | $286K | $2K | $5K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $12K | $11K | $1K | $119 |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $1K | $1K | $129 | $15 |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $2K | $0 | $2K | $0 |
| TravelLn 17 | $51K | $50K | $1K | $0 |
| InterestLn 20 | $2K | $0 | $2K | $0 |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $4K | $4K | $0 | $0 |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $11K | $8K | $3K | $0 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $67K | $67K | $0 | $0 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $1.2M | $1.1M | $76K | $12K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 Latest ViewingFiled with the IRS Nov 17, 2025 | $1.2M | $1.2M | $9K | $114K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Nov 15, 2024 | $775K | $781K | −$7K | $73K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Nov 15, 2023 | $505K | $449K | $56K | $79K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS Nov 15, 2022 | $323K | $321K | $2K | $23K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020Filed with the IRS Nov 8, 2021 | $172K | $22K | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,187,724 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 10 of 10 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,187,724 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,178,750 across 16 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $282,070 assets, 12 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $114,189 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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