Form 990 for tax year 2024

Totals

Total revenue

$228,713

Total expenses

$609,843

Contributions and grants received

$0

Grants paid

$0

Program service revenue

$0

Investment income

$131,894

Other revenue

$96,819

Total assets, end of year

$15,421,597

Total liabilities, end of year

$35,678

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$15,385,919

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$495,478

Management and general expenses

$114,365

Fundraising expenses

$0

Program service expenses (Part III)

$495,478

Program services were 81.2% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2024

• THE EAST PARK LEADERSHIP AND CONSERVATION CENTER ("EPLACC") IS A PARTNERSHIP PROJECT OF THE PHILADELPHIA OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL ("OUTWARD BOUND") AND THE NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY, INC. ("AUDUBON"). TOGETHER, THE TWO ORGANIZATIONS RAISED FUNDS AND OVERSAW THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE DISCOVERY CENTER IN EAST FAIRMOUNT PARK, A ONE-OF-A-KIND CENTER FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT. OVERLOOKING A 37-ACRE RESERVOIR, THE DISCOVERY CENTER FEATURS INDOOR AND OUTDOOR CLASSROOMS, EXHIBITIONS, TRAILS, HIGH ROPES COURSE, CLIMBING WALL, AND BIRD-WATCHING LOOK-OUTS. OUTWARD BOUND AND AUDUBON DEVELOPED THE CENTER WITH THE INTENTION OF SERVING PHILADELPHIA'S ECONOMICALLY CHALLENGED COMMUNITIES THROUGH PUBLIC PROGRAMS AND ACCESS TO A NEW PUBLIC AMENITY. EPLACC IS GOVERNED BY A BOARD OF DIRECTIONS CONSISTING OF THREE REPRESENTATIVES FROM OUTWARD BOUND, THREE FROM AUDUBON, AND A REPRESENTATIVE JOINTLY SELECTED BY THE STRAWBERRY MANSION COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION AND STRAWBERRY MANSION NEIGHBORHOOD ACTION CENTER OF PHILADELPHIA. IN ADDITION, OUTWARD BOUND AND AUDUBON ENTERED INTO A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING THAT GOVERNS USE OF THE DISCOVERY CENTER AND ITS ENVIRONS, COST SHARING BETWEEN OUTWARD BOUND AND AUDUBON, AND OTHER RELATED MATTERS. THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF EPLACC IS TO FURTHER THE MISSIONS OF ITS TWO SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS - NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY AND PHILADELPHIA OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL - BY DEVELOPING THE SITE IN WAY THAT WILL PROTECT BIRDS AND OTHER WILDLIFE, ALLOW FOR MANAGED PUBLIC ACCESS, PROVIDE SPACE AND RESOURCES FOR PUBLIC PROGRAMMING, AND CREATE ADEQUATE STAFF OFFICES. IT IS THE GOAL OF EPLACC, THROUGH THE DISCOVERY CENTER, TO CREATE AN UNPARALLED RESOURCES TO CONNECT COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE PHILADELPHIA REGION WITH YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, NATURE, AND HABITAT CONSERVATION. ON JULY 3, 2014 ("THE EFFECTIVE DATE"), EPLACC ENTERED INTO GROUND LEASE WITH THE PHILADELPHIA AUTHORITY FOR INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. AT THE END OF THE 30-YEAR PERIOD STARTING ON THE COMMENCEMENT DATE. AT THE END OF THE 30 -YEAR PERIOD, EPLACC MAY RENEW THE LEASE FOR AN ADDITIONAL 10-YEAR PERIOD. THE COMMENCEMENT DATE WAS SEPTEMBER 13, 2017, AND IS THE DATE THAT EPLACC MET A SERIES OF CONDITIONS INCLUDING WRITTEN APPROVAL OF THE PROJECT BUDGET AND RAISING 100 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET IN READILY AVAILABLE FUNDS OR IN BINDING, IRREVOCABLE DONATION PLEDGES NO LATER THAN THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE. IN 2016, AUDUBON COMPLETED WORK ON AN OVERFLOW VALVE TO CONTROL WATER LEVELS ON THE RESERVOIR AS REQUIRED BY THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, PRESERVING THE RESERVOIR FOR THE BENEFIT OF BIRDS AND OTHER WILDLIFE. THIS FIRST PHASE OF CONSTRUCTION, WHICH DECOMMISSIONED THE RESERVOIR AS A DAM, WAS REQUIRED PRIOR TO ANY ADDITIONAL CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT THE SITE. CONSTRUCTION ON THE DISCOVERY CENTER BEGAN IN OCTOBER 2017 AND WAS COMPLETED IN SEPTEMBER 2018. THE CAPITAL CAMPAIGN UNDERTAKEN BY OUTWARD BOUND AND AUDUBON ENVISIONED A PROJECT BUDGET SUFFICIENT TO FUND ALL CONSTRUCTION COSTS FOR THE DISCOVERY CENTER, A 5 MILLION ENDOWMENT TO SUPPORT BUILDING OPERATIONS IN PERPETUITY, AND CAPITAL AND OPERATING RESERVES FOR BUILDING REPAIRS AND SUPPORT FOR THE PROGRAMS OF OUTWARD BOUND AND AUDUBON.

  Expenses $495,478

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Related organizations on this return

Schedule R Part II: tax-exempt organizations related to the filer by control. It does not record shared board members or money.

• PHILADELPHIA OUTWARD BOUND CENTER INC

  501C3 · PART VII · PA

• NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INC

  501C3 · PART VII · NY

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2024

Filed

22 October 2025

IRS schema version

2024v5.0

Source object

202513189349313156

Check it against the return as filed: the GivingTuesday Data Lake hosts a public copy of the original XML.

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