Trust for Public Land

CharityWatch's rating of Trust for Public Land is for the 501(c)(3) public charity entity (tax ID #23-7222333) and does not include the related 501(c)(4) tax-exempt, social welfare organization, The Trust for Public Land Action Fund (tax ID #04-3515341). CharityWatch does not provide a separate rating for the Action Fund at this time due to its relatively small size.

CharityWatch separates the ratings for 501(c)(3) & 501(c)(4) organizations, even if their financial activities are included together in a consolidated audit, due to their differing treatments under the IRS tax code. For more information on this topic, please see our sections on Types of Non-Profits, Tax Status, and Treatment of Related Organizations, which can be found on the Our Process page.

For more information about things to consider when donating to organizations that have related public charity and social welfare entities, read "Sorting Out Non-Profit Pairs" in the "Articles & Alerts" section, below.

According to The Trust for Public Land consolidated audit of June 30, 2018 (Note 2a, Principles of Consolidation):

"The Board of Directors approved the changing of the Trust's fiscal year end from March 31 to June 30 for the period ending June 30, 2018. Accordingly, the 2018 consolidated financial statements include 15 months of activities for the period from April 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018."

[NOTE: CharityWatch's rating of Trust for Public Land includes the Trust's financial activities for the 12-month period of April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018. The Trust filed an IRS Form 990 for the 12-month period of April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018 and the 3-month period of April 1, 2018 to June 30, 2018.]

According to The Trust for Public Land consolidated audit of June 30, 2018 (Note 14, Commitments and Contingencies, Contract Commitments):

"The Trust had future construction contract commitments for parks and playgrounds of approximately $10,830,000 as of June 30, 2018. The Trust funds its park and playground work through cost reimbursement contracts and restricted operating grants."

According to The Trust for Public Land consolidated audit of June 30, 2018 (Note 18, Reorganization):

"On July 11, 2018, the Trust restructured the organization to enable growth and catalytic leadership. The Trust incurred restructuring costs of approximately $2,367,000 subsequent to year-end and estimates an additional approximately $643,000 through the end of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019."

According to The Trust for Public Land (TPL) tax filing for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018, TPL reports re: Compensation, Supplemental Information (IRS Form 990, Schedule J, Part III):

Regarding severance payments to officers, directors, trustees, key employees and highest compensated employees (Schedule J, Part I, Line 4A):

"Ray Christman received severance payment of $70,000 in calendar year 2017."

[Ray Christman is reported as "Senior VP (thru 9/1/17)," with total compensation of $271,474 in calendar year 2017 (IRS Form 990, Schedule J, Part II).]