Form 990 for tax year 2025

Totals

Total revenue

$3,658,423

Total expenses

$3,906,456

Contributions and grants received

$1,505,702

Grants paid

$502,139

Program service revenue

$2,123,448

Investment income

$29,122

Other revenue

$151

Total assets, end of year

$4,196,279

Total liabilities, end of year

$1,411,927

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$2,784,352

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$3,291,040

Management and general expenses

$483,224

Fundraising expenses

$132,192

Program service expenses (Part III)

$3,291,040

Program services were 84.2% 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 · 2025

• GROWING COMMUNITY FORESTS: TREES FOREVER HELPS COMMUNITIES GROW AND CARE FOR THEIR COMMUNITY FORESTS BY PROVIDING GRANT FUNDING WITH FRIENDLY AND KNOWLEDGEABLE ASSISTANCE TO VOLUNTEERS AND LEADERS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN PLANTING AND CARING FOR TREES AND NATURAL AREAS. TREES FOREVER PROVIDES ASSISTANCE WITH DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PLANNING AND RECOVERY AND CONTINUES TO LEAD THE REPLANTING EFFORT. IN 2025, TREES FOREVER PARTNERED WITH 91 COMMUNITIES TO COMPLETE 170 PROJECTS IN IOWA, ILLINOIS AND WISCONSIN. THREE LARGE-SCALE TREE DISTRIBUTIONS WERE HELD IN 2,508 AFFORDABLE, LANDSCAPE SIZED TREES PLANTED ON PRIVATE LANDS IN THE CEDAR RAPIDS AND DES MOINES METROPOLITAN AREAAS. EDUCATION AND VOLUNTEER OUTREACH PROGRAMS ARE ALSO PROCESSING. TREES FOREVER IS HELPING PREPARE TEENAGERS IUN IOWA FOR THE FUTURE WORKFORCE THROUGH GROWING FUTURES. THROUGH THIS YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN DES MOINES AND CEDAR RAPIDS ARE HIRED TO PLANT AND CARE FOR PUBLIC TREES IN 2025, A TOTAL OF 77 STUDENTS WERE HIRED WITH 53 STUDENTS RETURNING FOR CONSECUTIVE SEASONS. THEY PLANTED 859 TREES, WATERED 92,836 TIMES AND PROVIDED MAINTENANCE TO NUMEROUS TREES AS NEEDED WHILE ALSO RECEIVING VALUABLE TRAINING AND ENHANCING THEIR WORKPLACE READINESS.

  Expenses $2,734,035 · Grants $502,139 · Revenue $915,284

• IN 2025 TREES FOREVER EDUCATED INDIVIDUALS OF ALL AGES TO CARE FOR TREES: TREES FOREVER PROVIDES INFORMATIVE PROGRAMS AND HANDS-ON LEARNING EXPERIENCES THAT BUILD PARTICIPANTS' KNOWLEDGE OF TREE CARE, ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP, AND CONSERVATION. IN 2025 THROUGH THE STEWARDS OF THE BEAUTIFUL LAND PROGRAM WITH THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION'S LIVING ROADWAY TRUST FUND, TREES FOREVER HOSTED TWLEVE WEBINARS THAT ENGAGED PARTICIPANTS ON TOPICS RELATED TO CONSERVATION AND TREE PLANTING AND CARE. ALSO, THROUGH THE STEWARDS OF THE BEAUTIFUL LAND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM, VARIOUS HANDS-ON FIELD DAYS INCLUDED PLANT AND TREE ID, SEED HARVEST, PRAIRIE WALKS AND PLANTING EVENTS THAT ENGAGED 844 PARTICIPANTS. THE TREES FOREVER TREEKEEPERS PROGRAM REACHES VOLUNTEERS ACROSS THE NATION TO TRAIN AND EDUCATE THEM IN SUPPORTING URBAN FORESTRY IN THEIR HOMETOWNS. IN 2025, 499 PEOPLE PARTICIPATED IN THE ONLINE SERIES OF TRAININGS. THROUGH ALL OF TREES FOREVERS WORK, THE GROUP PROMOTES THE PLANTING OF DIVERSE, NATIVE TREES AND PRAIRIE TO BUILD A MORE RESILIENT AND BENEFICIAL LOCAL ECOSYSTEM. TREES FOREVER PROVIDES EDUCATION TO THE PUBLIC ON A VARIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL TOPICS WITH IN-PERSON FIELD DAYS, WEBINAR SERIES, AND VOLUNTEER TRAININGS. IN 2025, THE ORGANIZATION HAD MORE THAN 6,700 ENGAGEMENTS THROUGH EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH, VOLUNTEER EVENTS, AND SUPPORTER INTERACTIONS.

  Expenses $113,797

• COLLABORATED WITH ILLINOIS COMMUNITIES TO PLANT NEW TREES, MAINTAIN EXISTING ONES, AND SAFELY REMOVE THOSE THAT POSE RISKS. THE PROJECT FOCUSES ON ALIGNING TREE?CARE ACTIVITIES WITH NEIGHBORHOOD PRIORITIES, ENSURING THAT DECISIONS REFLECT LOCAL NEEDS AND ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS. BY BUILDING COMMUNITY CAPACITY AND PROVIDING TECHNICAL SUPPORT, THE INITIATIVE STRENGTHENS LONG?TERM STEWARDSHIP OF THE URBAN TREE CANOPY. IN 2025, WE AWARDED 555,431 IN FUNDING TO 32 COMMUNITIES IN ILLINOIS UNDER THE ILLINOIS DNR PROGRAM.

  Expenses $2,282 · Revenue $619,166

• LANDSCAPING ROADS & TRAILS: TREES FOREVER WORKS WITH VOLUNTEERS AND LEADERS TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITIES BETTER PLACES FOR CURRENT AND FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. WE DO THIS BY LEADING PLANNING EFFORTS THAT RESULT IN SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS. IN 2025, SEVEN COMMUNITIES PARTICIPATED IN THE IOWA'S LIVING ROADWAYS COMMUNITY VISIONING PROCESS WITH 1,481 VOLUNTEERS LOGGING 2,316 HOURS VALUED AT 69,380.

  Expenses $440,926 · Revenue $588,999

As filed on the 2025 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

• CITY OF PEORIA

  $25,000

• THE VILLAGE OF FOREST PARK

  $22,482

• CITY OF WAUKEGAN ATTN TREASURY DEP

  $15,000

• CITY OF GALESBURG

  $15,000

• VILLAGE OF PARK FOREST

  $14,999

• CITY OF COLLINSVILLE

  $14,940

• CITY OF KEWANEE

  $14,921

• MUSCATINE BRANCHING OUT

  $11,050

• VILLAGE OF ORLAND PARK

  $10,325

• WAVERLY TREES FOREVER

  $8,500

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

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.

• TREES FOREVER FOUNDATION

  501C3 · SUPPORT · IA

  Directly controlled by NA N/A

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2025

Filed

20 May 2026

IRS schema version

2025v4.0

Source object

202601419349301205

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

The source document this was parsed from is served over the API, which is where bulk and document access live.