Southern Conservation Trust
Elevating Nature Through Exceptional Stewardship
Learn how to support this organization
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The Southern Conservation Trust (SCT) was founded in 1993 by a group of like-minded Fayette County residents from diverse backgrounds eager to preserve natural resources and bring harmony to the disruptions experienced as the community expanded. SCT dedicates itself to elevating nature through exceptional stewardship. SCT impacts the Southeastern United States by protecting greenspace, conserving natural resources, and providing environmental education and access to nature for all. The organization aims to leave its legacy for future generations by focusing on protecting public nature areas and land through stewardship and conservation, instilling a sense of purpose and acknowledging the impact each individual has on the future of the environment, and educating community members on nature and the physical and mental wellness benefits it can provide.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Land Conservation
Our team works with landowners throughout the Southeast to permanently protect land through conservation agreements.
Public Nature Preserves
The Southern Conservation Trust (SCT) elevates nature through exceptional stewardship. To protect valuable greenspace, SCT manages six public nature areas in Fayette County, which total over 580 acres for the community to enjoy.
Fayette Environmental Education Center
The Fayette Environmental Education Center is where children and families can connect with the wonders of nature in Georgia. The project aims to provide the community and children in K-12 environmental education in interesting and engaging ways. SCT is motivated for the nature center to be a premiere environmental education destination in south Metro Atlanta. Currently, the nature center allows children and adults to learn what is hiding in their backyards, monarch butterflies, the life cycles of living creatures, ocean pollution, and greenhouses. The nature center also offers low-cost programming, free community events, and an annual summer camp WILD.
Where we work
Awards
Nonprofit of the Year 2021
Earthshare of Georgia
Conservation Medal and Conservation Certificate of Award 2021
Daughters of the American Revolution
Clean 13 Award 2022
Georgia Water Coalition
Non Profit of the Year 2024
Fayette County Chamber of Commerce
Affiliations & memberships
EarthShare of Georgia 2021
1% For The Planet Member 2024
2% for Conservation Community Partner 2024
Fayette Chamber of Commerce Member 2024
Leave No Trace Member 2024
External reviews
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of acres of land protected
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth
Related Program
Land Conservation
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Total land protected by the Southern Conservation Trust in Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Colorado, and Texas.
Number of free participants on field trips
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Fayette Environmental Education Center
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total number of fields trips
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Fayette Environmental Education Center
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Impact Goals:
1. Preserve land & our rural “environment" character
2. Protect habitats and natural resources
3. Enhance greenspace for education & passive recreation
4. Increase awareness of Environmental Stewardship
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Strategy 1: Increase conservation and stewardship of high-priority lands
Strategy 2: Public nature preserves and new nature preserve partnerships
Strategy 3: Education and Fayette Environmental Education Center
Strategy 4: Sustainable and diversified revenue and organizational capacity
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Southern Conservation Trust's strengths include: the high visibility of headquarters; ability to provide quality education; the Fayette Environmental Education Center is open to the public; the organization has a positive reputation in the community, a strong conservation background, legal support; solid financial structure; and valuable partnerships in the community.
In addition, opportunities offer additional capabilities for meeting goals. Opportunities include elevating our government and local relationships; marketing; fundraising; planned giving; grants and government funding; volunteers; trail improvements; relationships with other land trusts; and park development.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
The Southern Conservation Trust (SCT) elevates nature through exceptional stewardship. To protect valuable greenspace, SCT manages six public nature areas in Fayette County, which total over 580 acres for the community to enjoy. SCT also impacts more than 55,000 acres. Furthermore, our project, The Fayette Environmental Education Center, opened in 2021 and serves as the community's environmental education classroom that has served hundreds.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Southern Conservation Trust
Board of directorsas of 02/26/2024
James Yates
Senior Engineer, Comcast Cable
Term: 2024 - 2023
James Washburn
Director of Business Development, The Cadence Group
Term: 2023 - 2024
Randy Cardoza
Principle at Cardoza Consulting
Dan Cupertino
National Sales Director, Frontier Asset Management
Rich Cocos
Retired Regional Vice President Steelcase
Meredith Martin
Southern Crescent Management Group
Brian Cardoza
Vice President of Real Estate at Rooker
Scott Smith
Chef & Owner, The Curious Pig and The Curious Kitchen
Lawrence ''Dan'' Davis Jr.
President, Integrated Science & Engineering
Cathy Berggren
Nonprofit & Leadership Coach
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/28/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.