Washington, D.C. · Public charity
Defenders of Wildlife
Defenders of Wildlife is a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities.
- $609k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 21
- Itemized grants FY2025
- 18
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 11%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Itemized, FY2025
- $394k
- The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
- Median grant, FY2025
- $13,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $120,114
- Organizations funded a year
- 18 to 32
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 8
- Total assets, FY2025
- $65M
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 11% of the organizations Defenders of Wildlife funded were first-time grantees, receiving 11% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $31k went to new ones.
RenewedFirst-time
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
EnvironmentAnimalsArts & CultureEducationCivil RightsFood & NutritionOther
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 | 21 | $394k | 38% |
| FY2024 | 18 | $292k | 11% |
| FY2023 | 32 | $545k | 31% |
| FY2022 | 27 | $437k | 63% |
| FY2021 | 28 | $1.0M | 50% |
| FY2020 | 19 | $827k | 26% |
| FY2019 | 22 | $738k | 41% |
| FY2018 | 28 | $793k | 64% |
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$5.3MAnimals$1.7MEducation$155kCommunity Improvement$135kFood & Nutrition$124kScience & Tech$78kRecreation & Sports$51kArts & Culture$41kOther$0
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
AK
WA
MT
NY
MA
OR
WY
SD
PA
NJ
CA
CO
VA
MD
AZ
NM
KS
NC
SC
DC
AL
GA
TX
FL
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Wilderness Society | $1,204,294 | 6 | 1% |
| Natural Resources Defense Council Inc | $1,039,383 | 5 | 0% |
| Alaska Wilderness League | $310,300 | 7 | 1% |
| Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund | $175,600 | 1 | 18% |
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University | $142,000 | 3 | n/a |
| Fort Belknap Indian Community | $136,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Knnb | $135,656 | 5 | n/a |
| County of Dare | $120,114 | 1 | n/a |
| Indian Nations Conservation Alliance | $114,333 | 3 | 7% |
| University of Alaska | $109,750 | 4 | n/a |
Show all 102 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Wilderness Society | $1,204,294 | 6 | 1% |
| Natural Resources Defense Council Inc | $1,039,383 | 5 | 0% |
| Alaska Wilderness League | $310,300 | 7 | 1% |
| Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund | $175,600 | 1 | 18% |
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University | $142,000 | 3 | n/a |
| Fort Belknap Indian Community | $136,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Knnb | $135,656 | 5 | n/a |
| County of Dare | $120,114 | 1 | n/a |
| Indian Nations Conservation Alliance | $114,333 | 3 | 7% |
| University of Alaska | $109,750 | 4 | n/a |
| Aris Land & Livestock LLC | $102,000 | 5 | n/a |
| National Wildlife Refuge Association | $101,000 | 3 | 2% |
| Blackfoot Challenge Inc | $88,000 | 7 | 1% |
| Prairie Dog Coalition | $83,209 | 2 | n/a |
| Kck Investments | $78,000 | 8 | n/a |
| Blackfeet Tribe | $73,000 | 4 | n/a |
| Clark Fork Coalition | $70,153 | 4 | 1% |
| Wild Earth Society Incorporated | $69,745 | 3 | 2% |
| Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance | $66,673 | 2 | n/a |
| Fort Peck Tribes | $65,909 | 4 | n/a |
| Rangeland Wild | $60,017 | 4 | 9% |
| Florida Conservation Group Inc | $60,000 | 2 | 7% |
| Tom Miner Basin Association | $58,500 | 5 | n/a |
| Slade Ranch LLC | $56,000 | 9 | n/a |
| The University of Montana | $53,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Alaska Wildlife Alliance | $45,400 | 4 | 5% |
| Hispanic Access Foundation | $45,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Strayhorse Ranch LLC | $43,500 | 7 | n/a |
| Southern Plains Land Trust Inc | $41,686 | 3 | 1% |
| National Wildlife Federation | $37,500 | 3 | 0% |
| The Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Nation | $36,900 | 1 | n/a |
| Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund | $35,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Patagonia Area Resource Alliance | $31,371 | 4 | 7% |
| Intertribal Buffalo Council | $30,000 | 3 | n/a |
| Flying W Ranch | $30,000 | 5 | n/a |
| The Partnership Project Inc | $29,800 | 4 | 0% |
| Mainspring Conservation Trust Inc | $29,700 | 2 | 0% |
| Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory | $26,032 | 2 | 0% |
| Badger Creek Corporation | $26,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Legacy Philanthropy Works | $21,656 | 1 | 0% |
| Montana Freshwater Partners Inc | $21,000 | 1 | 2% |
| Humane World for Animals Inc | $20,950 | 2 | 0% |
| Daniel Curry CRIPH | $20,700 | 2 | n/a |
| City of Hamilton | $20,110 | 1 | n/a |
| City of Fort Collins | $20,000 | 1 | n/a |
| North American Butterfly Association Inc | $20,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Andrus Ranch Holdings LLC | $18,000 | 3 | n/a |
| Association for the Betterment of Bucksport | $18,000 | 1 | n/a |
| LLCJBARL Ranches | $18,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Beaver Institute Inc | $17,500 | 1 | n/a |
| The University of Florida Foundation Inc | $15,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Que Sera Sera Films LLC | $15,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Wolf Conservation Center Inc | $15,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Rocky Mountain Front Ranchlands Group | $15,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Champions for Wildlife | $15,000 | 1 | 5% |
| Thunder Basin Grasslands Prairie Ecosystem Association | $15,000 | 1 | 3% |
| Friends of Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge | $13,750 | 2 | 2% |
| Wildlife Restoration Foundation | $13,000 | 1 | 7% |
| Southern Environmental Law Center | $13,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Y Canyon Ranch LLC | $12,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative | $12,000 | 1 | 2% |
| Friends of the Heinz Wildlife Refuge | $11,000 | 1 | 5% |
| Mica Group Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Okefenokee Swamp Park Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Gwich'in Steering Committee | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| The Fort Lewis College Foundation | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Centennial Valley Association Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 6% |
| National Mall and Memorial Parks | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Species Survival Network | $10,000 | 1 | 4% |
| National Audubon Society Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Tyonek Tribal Conservation District | $10,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Grama Grass and Livestock | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Dogwood Alliance Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Earth Day Network Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Watershed Management Group Inc | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| University of North Carolina at Asheville | $10,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Greater Yellowstone Coalition | $9,500 | 1 | 0% |
| American Prairie Foundation | $8,500 | 1 | 0% |
| Pend Oreille County | $8,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Ghost Lake Corporation | $8,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Wolf Haven International | $7,500 | 1 | 0% |
| The Pisgah Conservancy | $7,500 | 1 | n/a |
| The Vital Ground Foundation Inc | $7,500 | 1 | 0% |
| Prairie Wildlife Research Inc | $7,422 | 1 | 4% |
| Animal Welfare Institute | $7,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Birkmaier Ranch INC | $7,000 | 1 | n/a |
| League of Conservation Voters Inc | $6,500 | 1 | 0% |
| Pueblo of Santa Ana | $6,436 | 1 | n/a |
| Trustees for Alaska | $6,400 | 1 | 0% |
| Double J Ranchers LLC | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| CanadianRiverCattle dba Rainy Mesa Ranch | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| J Albert Brown Ranches Inc | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Strayhorse Ranch LLC | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Renewable Energy Wildlife Institute | $6,000 | 1 | 0% |
| ACLU Foundation of Texas Inc | $6,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Hopi 3 Canyon Ranches | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Tribal Government of St Paul Island | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Pyramid Communications | $6,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Save Our Wild Salmon | $5,800 | 1 | 2% |
| Rio Grande Return | $5,500 | 1 | 0% |
| Nils Pedersen DBA Wind River Bear Institute LLC | $5,500 | 1 | n/a |
| League of Conservation Voters Education Fund | $5,400 | 1 | 0% |
Plus 2 recipients with no EIN on record ($18k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Defenders of Wildlife supplied at peak.
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 55.
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.
National Fish and Wildlife FoundationDC52.5× affinity33 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →
Open a dossier: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation · The Nature Conservancy · Patagoniaorg · The Wilderness Society · First Nations Development Institute · National Audubon Society Inc · Natural Resources Defense Council Inc · Resources Legacy Fund · The New-Land Foundation Inc · American Rivers Inc · World Wildlife Fund Inc · The Kendeda Fund
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.
About Defenders of Wildlife
- How much does Defenders of Wildlife give?
- Defenders of Wildlife reported 21 itemized grants totaling $394,210, out of $609,434 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 18 and 32 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does Defenders of Wildlife fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Environment (70%), Animals (22%), Education (2%).
- Who are Defenders of Wildlife's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: The Wilderness Society ($1.2M), Natural Resources Defense Council Inc ($1.0M), Alaska Wilderness League ($310k).
- Does Defenders of Wildlife fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 11% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Defenders of Wildlife?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Patagoniaorg.
- Where is Defenders of Wildlife based?
- Defenders of Wildlife is based in DC.
Play a game based on Defenders of Wildlife’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