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Conservation Colorado Education Fund at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Conservation Colorado Education Fund

We work to turn environmental values into state priorities through educating decision-makers and building community leaders to protect what makes our state unlike any other - our spectacular natural environment.

$11k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
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$944kPublic Benefit$374kCommunity Improvement$123kSocial Science$32kCivil Rights$14k
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 1 grants below total $10,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $10,670 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $670 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$6.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CONSERVATION COLORADO$10,000
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.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 86% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $25k → 10%WZI INC: $20k → 18%AMERICAN WHITEWATER: $10k → 18%CLEER: $20k → 6%WASTE NO MORE: $40k → 7%EAGLE RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL INC: $15k → 8%SAN JUAN CITIZENS ALLIANCE: $10k → 12%PROTECT COLORADO'S RECOVERY: $86k → 12%COLORADANS FOR COLORADANS: $5k → 12%COLORADO FARM AND FOOD ALLIANCE: $15k → 15%NATURE CONSERVANCY INC: $14k → 7%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $18k → 10%CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY FOR THE REGION: $14k → 6%SOUTHWEST ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECT: $80k → 12%CONSERVATION COLORADO: $10k → 12%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $18k → 10%CLEER: $14k → 6%SOUTHWEST ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECT: $57k → 12%HILLTOP PUBLIC SOLUTIONS: $10k → 12%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $18k → 10%CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY FOR THE REGION: $14k → 6%WESTERN RESOURCE ADVOCATES: $50k → 12%COPIRG FOUNDATION: $45k → 12%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $13k → 10%CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY: $10k → 6%SOUTHWEST ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECT: $40k → 12%COLORADO PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $32k → 12%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $12k → 10%CLEER: $10k → 6%WESTERN RESOURCE ADVOCATES: $25k → 12%COPIRG FOUNDATION: $32k → 12%CLEER: $10k → 6%SOUTHWEST ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECT: $98k → 12%COPIRG FOUNDATION: $32k → 12%WILDERNESS WORKSHOP: $10k → 6%WESTERN RESOURCE ADVOCATES: $20k → 12%COLORADO CIVIC ACTION: $25k → 12%SOUTHWEST ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECT: $80k → 12%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $25k → 12%WESTERN RESOURCE ADVOCATES: $10k → 12%COPIRG FOUNDATION: $25k → 12%SOUTHWEST ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECT: $56k → 12%COPIRG FOUNDATION: $23k → 12%THE AMERICAS FOR THE ARTS: $5k → 12%FUND FOR A HEALTHIER COLORADO: $10k → 12%COLORADO OPPORTUNITY FOR LATINA OPPORTUNITY AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHT: $14k → 12%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.
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

63%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$922k · 5 repeat orgs$550k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against +33% for those funded once.

5 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
16

Total granted

$922k
$540k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+33%

Still filing today

100%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k 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
EnvironmentCivil RightsHealthCrime & LegalPublic BenefitArts & CultureOther
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

  • SE
    SOUTHWEST ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECT
    6× · 2018–2023 · $411k · revenue +41%
  • CP
    COLORADO PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2018–2023 · $187k · revenue +113%
  • WR
    Western Resource Advocates
    4× · 2018–2022 · $105k · revenue +28%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2018 · $250k
  • PC
    PROTECT COLORADOS RECOVERY
    one grant, 2020 · $86k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $40k
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
Colorado Ag Water Alliance

Works with farmers and ranchers to address water issues around the state impacting agriculture.

Environment
2
Upper Colorado River Alliance
Environment
3
Living Rivers

Living rivers promotes river restoration through mobilization by articulating conservation and alternative management strategies to the public. seeking to revive the natural habitat and spirit of rivers by undoing the extensive damage done…

Environment
4
Protect Colorados Vote

To oppose a colorado statewide ballot initiative to join the national popular vote compact

—
5
Colorado Nature League

To protect, conserve, and restore colorado's native wildlife and habitats. we champion science-based, innovative, collaborative solutions for managing colorado's iconic wildlife and biodiversity, protecting them from threats like habitat…

Environment
6
San Juan Resource Conservation and Development Council Inc

San juan resource conservation and development council, inc.'s mission is to protect and improve the natural, cultural, historic and economic resources of the eight county area of southwest colorado.

Environment
7
Colorado Solar Energy Industries Assoc

Our mission is to expand solar and storage markets and to generate jobs and prosperity for the people of Colorado. Together with hundreds of solar and storage business members we work to advance clean energy policies, remove market…

—
8
Big Thompson Watershed Coalition

Vision: a healthy and resilient big thompson watershed benefitting fish, wildlife, and the people itserves through collaborative efforts for current and future generations. mission: working with others to take action that protects and…

Environment
9
350 Colorado Action

350 Colorado Action is a public education and welfare organization focused on educating the public and decision-makers about the issue of climate change, and to encourage the transition away from polluting fossil fuels to a clean renewable…

Environment
10
The Colorado Parks Foundation Inc
Recreation & Sports
11
Building a Better Colorado

To conduct research, promote community engagement, and provide an amalgamation of information to the citizens of colorado.

Community Improvement
12
Colorado Open Lands

Colorado open lands' mission is to preserve the significant open lands and natural heritage of colorado through private and public partnerships, innovative land conservation, and strategic leadership.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Sierra Club Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Colorado Civic Education. 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

19 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. 19 of the 23 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/19
Grantees still filing
11/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $250,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientCOLORADO PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $187,000 · OtherCOLORADO PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH FOUNDATION INCPROTECT COLORADOS RECOVERY: $86,110 · OtherPROTECT COLORADOS RECOVERYIndividual grant recipient: $40,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient+6 more: $74,000 · Other+6 moreSOUTHWEST ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECT: $410,800 · EnvironmentSOUTHWEST ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECTSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $127,000 · EnvironmentSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION+4 more: $50,000 · Environment+4 moreWestern Resource Advocates: $105,000 · Crime & LegalCLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY FOR THE REGION: $92,000 · Public BenefitCOLORADO CIVIC EDUCATION: $25,000 · Civil RightsCONSERVATION COLORADO: $10,000 · Civil RightsCOLORADO ORGANIZATION FOR LATINA OPPORTUNITY AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: $14,300 · HealthTHE ARCHER GROUP: $10,000 · HealthTHE AMERICAS FOR THE ARTS: $5,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$637,110Environment$587,800Crime & Legal$105,000Public Benefit$92,000Civil Rights$35,000Health$24,300Arts & Culture$5,000

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 budgetSOUTHWEST ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECT: $410,800 over 6y, 4.1% of budgetCOLORADO PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $187,000 over 6y, 24% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $127,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetWestern Resource Advocates: $105,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetCLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY FOR THE REGION: $92,000 over 6y, 2.8% of budgetPROTECT COLORADOS RECOVERY: $86,110 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetEAGLE RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL: $15,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE YAMPA INC: $15,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetCOLORADO ORGANIZATION FOR LATINA OPPORTUNITY AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: $14,300 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $14,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ARCHER GROUP: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSan Juan Citizens Alliance: $10,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCONSERVATION COLORADO: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetAmerican Whitewater: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetWILDERNESS WORKSHOP: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE AMERICAS FOR THE ARTS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCOLORADANS FOR COLORADANS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

Colorado Gives Founda…Western Conservation …The Denver FoundationUnited States Energy …The Pew Charitable Tr…Gill FoundationNatural Resources Def…Hopewell FundRose Community Founda…The Colorado Health F…PatagoniaorgVanguard Charitable E…
Colorado Gives FoundationCO21.9× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Colorado Gives Foundation · Western Conservation Foundation · The Denver Foundation · United States Energy Foundation · The Pew Charitable Trusts · Gill Foundation · Natural Resources Defense Council Inc · Hopewell Fund · Rose Community Foundation · The Colorado Health Foundation · Patagoniaorg · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Conservation Colorado Education Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Conservation Colorado Education Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • American Whitewater: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 23 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 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

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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