Skip to content
Chris Dennis Environment Foundation Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

Chris Dennis Environment Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$11k
Granted FY2024still arriving
3
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Environment$197kHuman Services$33kHousing & Shelter$27kArts & Culture$25kInternational$10kEducation$10k
02FY2024 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $1k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$1,033
Median grant
2
States reached
$311k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CORNELL UNIVERSITY$10,000
EARTHJUSTICE$1,033
INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS INC$250
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

US giving: 80% of grant dollars ($242k). The need read here covers only this US portion; the 20% that went abroad ($59k) is mapped below.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION: $5 → 10%PARASITES WITHOUT BORDERS: $250 → 6%PEOPLE FOR A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT: $100 → 15%ATKINSON CENTER AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY: $20k → 16%IFP FISCAL SPONSORSHIP: $25k → 20%JUST HAITI INC: $10k → 14%EARTHJUSTICE: $1k → 10%ATKINSON CENTER AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY: $20k → 16%FINGER LAKES LAND TRUST: $70k → 16%FINGER LAKES LAND TRUST: $50k → 16%SUSTAINABLE TOMPKINS: $35k → 16%CORNELL UNIVERSITY: $10k → 16%SUSTAINABLE TOMPKINS: $500 → 16%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Beyond the US: 20% of all-years giving ($59k)

2 countries, by the recipient’s country on the filing.

grant dollars sentlessmore
Kenya$33k · 1 grant
Canada$27k · 2 grants
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving. International giving is mapped by the recipient’s country from the same 990 filings; comparable need data isn’t available at that grain.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$222k · 4 repeat orgs$79k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +337% since the first grant, against +43% for those funded once.

4 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
6

Total granted

$222k
$68k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+337%
+43%

Still filing today

50%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $11k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentEducationInternationalArts & CultureSocial ScienceHealthOther
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.

Backed again, and grew

  • TF
    The Finger Lakes Land Trust Inc
    2× · 2020–2021 · $120k · revenue +24%
  • AC
    ATKINSON CENTER AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2017–2018 · $40k
  • SF
    SUSTAINABLE FINGER LAKES INC
    2× · 2018–2019 · $36k · revenue +337%

Funded once

  • PA
    POVERTY AND HEALTH INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS
    one grant, 2022 · $33k
  • IF
    INDEPENDENT FEATURE PROJECT INC
    one grant, 2019 · $25k · revenue +3%
  • JH
    JUST HAITI INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue +30%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Grist Magazine Inc

Grist is an independent, non profit media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change.

Environment
2
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
3
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
4
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
5
Food and Environment Reporting Network Inc

Fern seeks to make the food system more sustainable and equitable through powerful journalism and storytelling.

Food & Nutrition
6
Project Drawdown

Project drawdown's mission is to drive meaningful climate action by advancing science-based solutions and strategies. project drawdown's work is focused on three pillars: science - advancing science-based climate solutions and strategies;…

Education
7
Center for International Environmental Law Inc

To investigate, research, write, publish, present conferences and teach with respect to global, regional, transboundary, and comparative environmental issues and to make the findings from such activities available to the general public; to…

International
8
Fresh Energy

Shape and drive bold policy solutions to achieve equitable carbon-neutral economies.

Environment
9
Natural Resources Defense Council Inc

We safeguard the earth: its people, its plants and animals, and (see schedule o) the natural systems on which all life depends. we work to restore the integrity of the elements that sustain life - air, land, and water - to defend…

Environment
10
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
11
Rainforest Foundation Inc

The purpose of rainforest foundation us is to support indigenous peoples and forest communities in their efforts to secure their lands, protect their environment, and uphold their rights.

Environment
12
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wikimedia Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Just Haiti Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

9 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 9 of the 13 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
8/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The Finger Lakes Land Trust Inc: $120,000 · EnvironmentThe Finger Lakes Land Trust IncSUSTAINABLE FINGER LAKES INC: $35,500 · EnvironmentSUSTAINABLE FINGER LAKES INC+1 more: $1,033 · EnvironmentATKINSON CENTER AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY: $40,000 · OtherATKINSON CENTER AT CORNELL UNIVERSITYPOVERTY AND HEALTH INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS: $32,500 · OtherPOVERTY AND HEALTH INTEGRATED SOLUTIO…LITTLE FOOTPRINTS BIG STEPS: $26,600 · OtherLITTLE FOOTPRINTS BIG STEPS+1 more: $100 · OtherINDEPENDENT FEATURE PROJECT INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureINDEPENDE…Cornell University: $10,000 · Education+1 more: $5 · EducationJUST HAITI INC: $10,000 · InternationalINSIDE CLIMATE NEWS INC: $250 · Social SciencePARASITES WITHOUT BORDERS INC: $250 · Health
Environment$156,533Other$99,200Arts & Culture$25,000Education$10,005International$10,000Social Science$250Health$250

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetThe Finger Lakes Land Trust Inc: $120,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetSUSTAINABLE FINGER LAKES INC: $35,500 over 2y, 20% of budgetINDEPENDENT FEATURE PROJECT INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCornell University: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $1,033 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINSIDE CLIMATE NEWS INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARASITES WITHOUT BORDERS INC: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $5 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

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.

Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Donor Advised Charitable Giving IncCO6.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Chris Dennis Environment Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Chris Dennis Environment Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 13 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Chris Dennis Environment’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home