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Environmental Federation of California Earthshare California at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Environmental Federation of California Earthshare California

The primary purpose of the organization is to broaden its affiliates' (501(c)(3) organizations) financial support by obtaining access to and coordinating participation in corporate and governmental payroll deduction fundraising campaigns.

$1k
Granted FY2025still arriving
1
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$37k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of Environmental Federation of California Earthshare California’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Earthshare, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it.

Organizations named directly on the return

7
’17
9
’19
19
’23
2
’24
0
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

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 2025.

Environment$1.2MEmployment$56kAnimals$49kCommunity Improvement$18kRecreation & Sports$12k
02FY2025 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$37,415
Median grant
1
States reached
$77k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
EARTHSHARE$37,415
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 85% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $49k → 10%GREENBELT ALLIANCE: $5k → 10%NATURAL RESOURCES DEF: $12k → 10%ANZA-BORREGO FOUNDATION: $6k → 11%DESERT TORTOISE PRES: $7k → 11%MOUNTAIN LION FOUNDATION: $19k → 12%SAVE OUR SHORES: $5k → 13%HEAL THE BAY: $10k → 14%DESERT TORTOISE PRESERVE COMMITTEE: $13k → 18%NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: $36k → 17%FRIENDS OF THE EARTH: $5k → 14%SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $7k → 10%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $63k → 10%NATURAL RESOURCES DEF: $9k → 10%ANZA-BORREGO FOUNDATION: $6k → 11%DESERT TORTOISE PRES: $5k → 11%CALIFORNIANS AGAINST WASTE FOUNDATION: $7k → 12%HEAL THE BAY: $6k → 14%NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: $6k → 17%EARTHSHARE: $325k → 14%SAVE THE BAY: $9k → 10%BAY AREA RIDGE TRAIL: $6k → 10%SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER: $5k → 11%MOUNTAIN LION FDN: $5k → 12%ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND: $13k → 17%EARTHSHARE: $54k → 14%SAN FRANCISCO BAYKEEPER: $8k → 10%GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY: $18k → 10%CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY: $14k → 12%EARTHSHARE: $37k → 14%RAILS TO TRAILS CONSER: $6k → 10%GOLDEN GATE NATL PARK: $6k → 10%FRIENDS OF THE RIVER FOUNDATION: $12k → 12%BAY AREA RIDGE TRAIL COUNCIL: $18k → 10%RAINFOREST ACTION NETW: $5k → 10%RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK: $5k → 10%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY CALIFORNIA CHAPTER: $111k → 10%NATURE CONSERVANCY CA: $18k → 10%NATURE CONSERVANCY CA: $16k → 10%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $16k → 10%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $13k → 10%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY CALIFORNIA: $11k → 10%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.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$371k · 10 repeat orgs$90k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +22% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 8 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
11

Total granted

$371k
$90k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+22%

Still filing today

100%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’23’24
EnvironmentAnimalsRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • TS
    THE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION
    5× · 2017–2024 · $80k · revenue +107%
  • NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC
    5× · 2017–2024 · $64k · revenue +41%
  • ML
    Mountain Lion Foundation
    2× · 2017–2023 · $24k · revenue +8%

Funded once

  • CN
    California Native Plant Society
    one grant, 2023 · $14k · revenue -5%
  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATEDgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $13k · revenue +79%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF THE RIVER FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $12k · revenue +19%
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
Sustainable Conservation

Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…

Environment
2
California Wildlife Foundation

The foundation works with diverse groups representing many interests to acquire and restore critical wildlife habitat and protecting species

Animals
3
Environmental Defense Center

The organization protects and enhances the local environment through education, advocacy and legal action.

Crime & Legal
4
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
5
Environment Now
—
6
California Coastkeeper dba California Coastkeeper Alliance

California Coastkeeper Alliance unites Waterkeeper programs statewide to fight for swimmable, fishable, and drinkable waters for all Californians.

Environment
7
CalWild

The California Wilderness Coalition protects the natural landscapes that make California unique, providing clean air and water, a home to wildlife, and a place for recreation and spiritual renewal.

—
8
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
9
Greater Farallones Association

Gfa works in partnership with and on behalf of the greater farallones and cordell bank national marine sanctuaries to preserve, monitor, research, educate about and enhance these invaluable marine resources.

Animals
10
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
11
Resource Renewal Institute

The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.

Environment
12
Wildcoast

The mission of wildcoast is to conserve coastal and marine ecosystems and address climate change through natural solutions. our staff is dedicated to conserving threatened and endangered coastlines and wildlife in california and mexico.…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated; the most unlike its peers is Rails to Trails Conservancy. 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

23 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.

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

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
18/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

EARTHSHARE: $675,627 · EnvironmentEARTHSHARESIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $92,680 · EnvironmentSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATIONTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $79,963 · EnvironmentTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATIONNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $63,825 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC+12 more: $122,416 · Environment+12 moreTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $156,168 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSER…Bay Area Ridge Trail Council: $23,827 · OtherBay Area Ridge Tr…ANZA-BORREGO FOUNDATION: $12,355 · OtherANZA-BORREGO FOUN…+1 more: $5,409 · OtherDesert Tortoise Preserve Committee Inc: $25,162 · AnimalsMountain Lion Foundation: $24,108 · AnimalsFRIENDS OF THE RIVER FOUNDATION: $11,729 · Recreation & Sports
Environment$1,034,511Other$197,759Animals$49,270Recreation & Sports$11,729

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 budgetEARTHSHARE: $675,627 over 5y, 3.7% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $156,168 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $92,680 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $79,963 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $63,825 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDesert Tortoise Preserve Committee Inc: $25,162 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetMountain Lion Foundation: $24,108 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetBay Area Ridge Trail Council: $23,827 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetGOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY: $23,147 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHEAL THE BAY: $15,828 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCalifornia Native Plant Society: $13,816 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $13,315 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANZA-BORREGO FOUNDATION: $12,355 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE RIVER FOUNDATION: $11,729 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetRainforest Action Network: $10,219 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSave The Bay: $9,042 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBaykeeper: $8,077 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetRAILS TO TRAILS CONSERVANCY: $6,349 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSAVE OUR SHORES: $5,409 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetGREENBELT ALLIANCEPEOPLE FOR OPEN SPACE: $5,208 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER: $5,203 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE EARTH: $5,074 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.

Resources Legacy FundThe Rose Foundation f…Ibm International Fou…Leonardo Dicaprio Fou…Silicon Valley Commun…PatagoniaorgMarin Community Found…Rockefeller Philanthr…The San Francisco Fou…Vanguard Charitable E…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…
Resources Legacy FundCA19.7× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Resources Legacy Fund · The Rose Foundation for Communities the Environment · Ibm International Foundation · Leonardo Dicaprio Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Patagoniaorg · Marin Community Foundation · Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc · The San Francisco Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc

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 Environmental Federation of California Earthshare California funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Environmental Federation of California Earthshare California. 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%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Environmental Federation of California Earthshare California’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