How much does California State Parks Foundation give?

California State Parks Foundation reported 14 itemized grants totaling $598,318, out of $839,174 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 8 and 35 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.

What does California State Parks Foundation fund?

By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Environment (65%), Recreation & Sports (29%), Youth Development (3%).

Who are California State Parks Foundation's largest grantees?

By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: California Department of Parks and Recreation Candlestick Point State Recr ($6.0M), Coastside State Parks Association ($884k), Point Lobos Foundation ($601k).

Does California State Parks Foundation fund new organizations?

In FY2024, 54% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.

Which funders back the same organizations as California State Parks Foundation?

Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Parks California, Resources Legacy Fund, Clif Family Foundation.

Where is California State Parks Foundation based?

California State Parks Foundation is based in CA.

Foundation Dossiers Mostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

California · Public charity

California State Parks Foundation

CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION is an independent, member-supported nonprofit dedicated to protecting and preserving the california state park system for the benefit of all.

$839k
Granted FY2025(still arriving): 14
Itemized grants FY2025: 13
Organizations funded FY2024: 54%
First-time grantees FY2024

Read the full brief

Itemized, FY2025: $598k; The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
Median grant, FY2025: $18,000
Largest grant, FY2025: $312,713
Organizations funded a year: 8 to 35; FY2018 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025: 1
Total assets, FY2025: $21M

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 54% of the organizations California State Parks Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 9% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $89k went to new ones.

RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

EnvironmentRecreation & SportsArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesEducationOther

How this is measured

First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

The numbers by year

Fiscal year	Organizations funded	To those organizations	First-time grantees
FY2025still arriving	14	$598k	14%
FY2024	13	$961k	54%
FY2023	19	$1.5M	21%
FY2022	29	$582k	48%
FY2021	15	$2.7M	47%
FY2020	8	$408k	38%
FY2019	35	$2.0M	83%
FY2018	20	$975k	95%

100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Environment$6.6MRecreation & Sports$2.9MYouth Development$305kPublic Safety & Disaster$175kAnimals$45kArts & Culture$35kEducation$18kCommunity Improvement$10kOther$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
California Department of Parks and Recreation Candlestick Point State Recr	$5,969,559	8	n/a
Coastside State Parks Association	$884,370	2	69%
Point Lobos Foundation	$601,120	3	56%
Literacy for Environmental Justice	$241,833	4	10%
California Coastal Commission	$143,100	4	n/a
Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (See) Inc	$101,089	4	0%
Committee for Clean Water Natural Resources and Parks	$100,000	2	2%
Crystal Cove Conservancy	$84,900	6	1%
Sonoma Ecology Center	$82,540	5	2%
Los Angeles River State Park Partners	$65,730	3	21%

Show all 99 grantees

All grantees of California State Parks Foundation by total granted
Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
California Department of Parks and Recreation Candlestick Point State Recr	$5,969,559	8	n/a
Coastside State Parks Association	$884,370	2	69%
Point Lobos Foundation	$601,120	3	56%
Literacy for Environmental Justice	$241,833	4	10%
California Coastal Commission	$143,100	4	n/a
Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (See) Inc	$101,089	4	0%
Committee for Clean Water Natural Resources and Parks	$100,000	2	2%
Crystal Cove Conservancy	$84,900	6	1%
Sonoma Ecology Center	$82,540	5	2%
Los Angeles River State Park Partners	$65,730	3	21%
Regents of the University of California at Riverside	$60,585	1	n/a
Friends of Lakes Folsom and Natoma	$54,565	4	10%
San Mateo County Resource Conservation District	$51,143	2	n/a
Los Angeles Audubon Society Inc	$50,970	4	4%
Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority	$50,000	1	n/a
Gold Discovery Park Association	$47,602	3	7%
California Park and Recreation Society	$46,725	1	2%
Malibu Creek Docents	$46,450	3	51%
South Yuba River Citizens League	$44,992	4	0%
Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods	$40,000	2	3%
Central Coast State Parks Association	$35,000	2	4%
Mendocino Woodlands Camp Association	$35,000	2	3%
Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks	$32,970	2	0%
Chino Hills State Park Interpretive Assocation	$30,203	4	n/a
City of Culver City	$30,000	1	n/a
The Surfrider Foundation	$30,000	1	0%
Mountain Parks Foundation of Santa Cruz	$29,450	3	2%
Boosters of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park	$25,295	3	10%
Amigos de Bolsa Chica	$24,000	3	25%
Friends of China Camp Inc	$23,863	2	1%
Redwood Parks Conservancy	$22,793	3	1%
Xerces Society Inc	$22,416	1	0%
California Waterfowl Association	$22,340	1	0%
Nature Nexus Institute	$20,000	1	5%
Girlventures	$20,000	1	2%
Friends of Sutters Fort Inc	$20,000	2	9%
Anahuak Youth Sports Association	$20,000	2	12%
California Native Plant Society	$19,996	2	0%
Community Nature Connection	$19,031	1	2%
Ranger Foundation	$19,000	1	21%
Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association	$18,246	2	n/a
The Student Conservation Association Inc	$18,000	2	0%
Regents of the University of California	$17,966	1	n/a
Outdoor Outreach	$17,897	2	1%
Foundation for the Preservation of the Santa Susana Mountains	$17,150	2	n/a
San Luis Rey Mission Indian Foundation	$15,000	1	8%
Friends of Peralta Hacienda Historical Park	$15,000	1	3%
Feather River Center	$12,000	1	5%
University of California Merced Foundation	$12,000	1	0%
Movement Brave Entrepreneur	$12,000	1	7%
Friends of San Diego Wildlife Refuges Inc	$11,408	1	24%
Angel Island Conservancy	$11,000	1	9%
Test Plot Inc	$10,000	1	n/a
Orange County Coastkeeper	$10,000	1	0%
Groundwork Richmond Inc	$10,000	1	1%
Disabled Hikers	$10,000	1	13%
Green Cities Fund Inc	$10,000	1	2%
Bay Area Training Center	$10,000	1	n/a
Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship	$10,000	1	0%
Portola and Castle Rock Foundation	$10,000	1	12%
Clockshop	$10,000	1	7%
Young Men's Christian Association of San Francisco	$10,000	1	0%
Saint Mary's College of California	$10,000	1	0%
Torrey Pines Association DBA Torrey Pines Conservancy	$10,000	1	2%
Earthteam	$10,000	1	2%
Providence Saint John's Health Center	$10,000	1	0%
Humboldt Redwoods Interpretive Assn	$10,000	1	5%
Empowerment Works Inc	$10,000	1	23%
Cyark	$10,000	1	1%
Negus in Nature	$10,000	1	n/a
Climate Resolve	$10,000	1	0%
Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation	$10,000	1	n/a
Valley of the Moon Natural History Association	$10,000	1	1%
Regional Parks Foundation	$10,000	1	0%
Mendocino Area Parks Association	$10,000	1	4%
Hills for Everyone	$10,000	1	4%
Outdoor Afro	$10,000	1	2%
Napa Valley State Parks Association	$10,000	1	2%
Bear Yuba Land Trust	$10,000	1	1%
Community Initiatives	$10,000	1	0%
Redwood Trails Alliance	$10,000	1	2%
Friends of Cardiff & Carlsbad State Beaches	$9,355	1	n/a
Poppy ReserveMojave Desert Interpretive Association	$9,280	1	97%
Exploring New Horizons	$8,500	1	n/a
Waterside Workshops	$8,000	1	1%
Adventure Risk Challenge	$8,000	1	2%
Save the Redwoods League	$8,000	1	0%
Environmental Charter Schools	$7,500	1	0%
Friends of Mt Tam	$7,500	1	n/a
Sempervirens Fund	$7,500	1	0%
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy	$7,209	1	0%
Benicia State Parks Association	$7,050	1	n/a
California Environmental Voters	$6,500	1	0%
Anza-Borrego Foundation	$6,420	1	1%
Bird School Project	$6,000	1	n/a
William C Velasquez Institute	$6,000	1	n/a
Sierra State Parks Foundation	$5,936	1	1%
Peninsula International Inc	$5,629	1	n/a
Torrey Pines Docent Society	$5,193	1	7%

Plus 2 recipients with no EIN on record ($199k), not named here.

California State Parks Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 4 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 78 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured

Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 78.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Parks CaliforniaCA56.9× affinity25 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Parks California · Resources Legacy Fund · Clif Family Foundation · The Joseph and Vera Long Foundation · Save the Redwoods League · Justice Outside · The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment Inc · The San Francisco Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · Liberty Hill Foundation · National Fish and Wildlife Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation

How this is measured

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Compare California State Parks Foundation with peer funders

About California State Parks Foundation

How much does California State Parks Foundation give?: California State Parks Foundation reported 14 itemized grants totaling $598,318, out of $839,174 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 8 and 35 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
What does California State Parks Foundation fund?: By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Environment (65%), Recreation & Sports (29%), Youth Development (3%).
Who are California State Parks Foundation's largest grantees?: By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: California Department of Parks and Recreation Candlestick Point State Recr ($6.0M), Coastside State Parks Association ($884k), Point Lobos Foundation ($601k).
Does California State Parks Foundation fund new organizations?: In FY2024, 54% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Which funders back the same organizations as California State Parks Foundation?: Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Parks California, Resources Legacy Fund, Clif Family Foundation.
Where is California State Parks Foundation based?: California State Parks Foundation is based in CA.