Skip to content
Equation Campaign and Global Climate Legal Defense at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Equation Campaign and Global Climate Legal Defense

The mission of ecgcld is to provide funding, technical and legal help to community members and leaders.

$14M
Granted FY2025still arriving
79
Grants FY2025still arriving
24
States reached
$700k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01FY2025 · 79 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 79 grants below total $11,158,866, the rows itemized in this filing. The $14,446,778 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $3,287,912 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.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k10 grants · $199k
  • $50k–250k61 grants · $7.6M
  • $250k+8 grants · $3.3M
$120,000
Median grant
24
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNKITAWA$700,000
BOLD EDUCATION FUND INC$691,900
WEST VIRGINIA RIVERS COALITION INC$450,000
FOUNDATION FOR LOUISIANA$325,000
CHISHOLM LEGACY PROJECT INC$320,000
VIRGINIA ORGANIZING$300,000
LOUISIANA BUCKET BRIGADE$275,000
ALLIANCE FOR AFFORDABLE ENERGY$250,000
BAY MILLS INDIAN COMMUNITY$200,000
HONOR THE EARTH$200,000
7 DIRECTIONS OF SERVICE INC$200,000
EASTERN WOODLAND LACROSSE$200,000
WILD VIRGINIA INCORPORATED$200,000
INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK$200,000
GRAND TRAVERSE BAND OF OTTAWA AND CHIPPEWA INDIANS$200,000
02The need
02

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:

Its human-services grants (FY25–25, $50k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%TRIBAL IMAGES MUSEUM INC: $50k → 17%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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
SD
PA
CA
NE
WV
VA
MD
AZ
NM
TN
NC
DC
LA
TX

Grants abroad, by region: $2.8M on the FY2025 return

Schedule F, as filed: 4 regions. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.

Europe (including Iceland and Greenland)$1.3M · 47% · 2 grants

Stated purpose: SUPPORT LEGAL CLIMATE DEFENSE FOR CLIMATE DEFENDERS IN EUROPE · SUPPORT YOUR WORK FIGHTING LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS (LNG) BUILDOUT IN MEXICO

North America (Canada and Mexico)$1.1M · 39% · 9 grants

Stated purpose: SUPPORT SWCCS PROJECT CONCERNING THE PROPOSED PRINCE RUPERT GAS TRANSMISSION PIPELINE · PROVIDE UNRESTRICTED FUNDING AND TO SUPPORT A GATHERING IN LA PAZ · SUPPORT COMMUNITY-BASED AND OTHER EFFORTS OF THE GITANYOW WILP SUSTAINABILITY FUND

Sub-Saharan Africa$235k · 8% · 2 grants

Stated purpose: PROVIDE LEGAL SUPPORT AND LEGAL DEFENSE TO CLIMATE DEFENDERS IN UGANDA AND TANZANIA · BUILD A LEGAL NETWORK FOR CLIMATE DEFENDERS

East Asia and the Pacific$150k · 5% · 2 grants

Stated purpose: SUPPORT THE KLIMA CENTER OF THE MANILA OBSERVATORY · SUPPORT PHILIPPINES EARTH JUSTICE

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. Grants abroad on Schedule F are filed by region, purpose and amount with no recipient name, so they are shown by region and cannot be placed on the country map or matched to a grantee.
03Its 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
California Environmental Justice Alliance

Our mission is to fight against fossil fuel executives and industries that have turned our communities into dumping grounds for toxic waste, poisoning our air, water, lan, and bodies. We organize to oppose giant oil refineries, dirty…

Environment
2
Earthworks

The Corporation is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes. Earthworks is dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the impacts of irresponsible mineral and energy development while seeking…

Public Benefit
3
International Rivers Network

International Rivers protects rivers and defends the rights of communities that depend on them.

Environment
4
Nature for Justice

To empower frontline communities to lead nature-based solutions that advance climate justice, ecosystem restoration, and resilient livelihoods through connecting locally-led initiatives to funding, markets, and technical support.

Environment
5
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide

Educational & charitable. to provide legal and scientific information to public interest attorneys and scientists in numerous countries.

—
6
Environment Now
—
7
Nw Energy Coalition

The NW Energy Coalition is an alliance of over 100 environmental, civic, and human service organizations, utilities, and businesses in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia, plus many individual members. The NW Energy…

—
8
Partnership for Policy Integrity

Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI) uses data-driven advocacy and litigation to fight for forests, communities and the climate.

Environment
9
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
10
E3G Third Generation Environmentalism

E3g is a leading international not-for-profit think tank specialising in climate diplomacy harnessing expertise in the politics and economics of climate change.

Environment
11
Environmental Law and Policy Center of the Midwest

The environmental law & policy center (elpc) is the midwest's leading public interest environmental legal advocacy and ecobusiness innovation organization, and among the nation's leaders. we develop and lead successful strategic…

Environment
12
Water Protector Legal Collective

The water protector legal collective is an indigenous-led legal nonprofit that provides support and advocacy for indigenous peoples and original nations, the earth, and climate justice movements.

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wildearth Guardians; the most unlike its peers is The 88 Project. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
03the grantee network

72 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. 72 of the 79 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
36
Early backer (in before they grew)
72/72
Grantees still filing
40/72
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNKITAWA: $700,000 · EnvironmentUNKITAWAWEST VIRGINIA RIVERS COALITION INC: $450,000 · EnvironmentWEST VIRGINIA RIVERS COALITION INCLOUISIANA BUCKET BRIGADE: $275,000 · EnvironmentLOUISIANA BUCKET BRIGADEALLIANCE FOR AFFORDABLE ENERGY: $250,000 · EnvironmentCLEAN WISCONSIN INC: $200,000 · EnvironmentWILD VIRGINIA INCORPORATED: $200,000 · EnvironmentHONOR THE EARTH: $200,000 · EnvironmentMICHIGAN ENVIROMENTAL COUNCIL: $200,000 · EnvironmentAPPALACHIAN VOICES: $200,000 · EnvironmentThe Partnership Project Inc: $178,100 · Environment+23 more: $1,984,160 · Environment+23 moreBAD RIVER BAND OF LAKE SUPERIOR TRIBE OF CHIPPEWA INDIANS: $200,000 · OtherBAD RIVER BAND OF LAKE …NATURAL RESOURCES DEPARTMENT: $200,000 · OtherNATURAL RESOURCES DEPAR…7 DIRECTIONS OF SERVICE INC: $200,000 · Other7 DIRECTIONS OF SERVICE…BAY MILLS INDIAN COMMUNITY: $200,000 · OtherBAY MILLS INDIAN COMMUN…MEMPHIS COMMUNITY AGAINST POLLUTION INC: $165,000 · OtherMEMPHIS COMMUNITY AGAIN…SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $150,000 · OtherSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL …WILDEARTH GUARDIANS: $150,000 · OtherWILDEARTH GUARDIANSOFICINA LEGAL DEL PUEBLO UNIDO INC: $150,000 · OtherOFICINA LEGAL DEL PUEBL…LAUDATO SI MOVEMENT: $125,000 · OtherLAUDATO SI MOVEMENTBORDER WORKERS UNITED: $85,000 · OtherThe 88 Project: $120,000 · OtherINTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT LAW INC: $85,000 · OtherCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $152,206 · OtherCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL D…Women's Earth and Climate Action Network: $100,000 · Other+7 more: $233,500 · Other+7 moreBOLD EDUCATION FUND INC: $691,900 · Community ImprovementBOLD EDUCATION…VIRGINIA ORGANIZING INC: $300,000 · Community ImprovementVIRGINIA ORGAN…THE DESCENDANTS PROJECT: $175,000 · Community ImprovementTHE DESCENDANT…SOCIETY OF NATIVE NATIONS: $102,000 · Community ImprovementSOCIETY OF NAT…BUSINESS CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE INC: $100,000 · Community ImprovementBUSINESS CAPAC…PROMOTE PT: $75,000 · Community ImprovementTHE CHISHOLM LEGACY PROJECT INC: $320,000 · Civil RightsTHE CHISH…PARTNERSHIPFORCIVILJUSTICEFUND: $170,000 · Civil RightsPARTNERSH…CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: $150,000 · Civil RightsCENTER FO…INSTITUTE FOR ENHANCED EQUITY: $102,000 · Civil RightsINSTITUTE…SOUTHWEST ORGANIZING PROJECT: $75,000 · Civil RightsSOUTHWEST…PROTECT ELIZABETH TOWNSHIPINC: $75,000 · Civil RightsPROTECT E…EASTERN WOODLAND LACROSS: $200,000 · Arts & CultureTikkun Olam Productions Inc: $200,000 · Arts & CultureFloodlight Inc: $175,000 · Arts & CultureEFFORTS OF GRACE INC: $100,000 · Arts & CultureOrganizing Institute South and West IAF: $75,000 · Arts & CultureINDIGENOUS LIFEWAYS: $75,000 · Arts & CultureINDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK: $200,000 · EducationNew York University: $150,000 · EducationDakota Rural Action: $60,000 · EducationECO-JUSTICE COLLABORATIVE NFP: $55,000 · EducationAMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $25,000 · EducationFOUNDATION FOR LOUISIANA: $325,000 · Public Safety & DisasterEXTENSIVE EMPOWERMENT PROJECT INC: $30,000 · Public Safety & Disaster
Environment$4,837,260Other$2,315,706Community Improvement$1,443,900Civil Rights$892,000Arts & Culture$825,000Education$490,000Public Safety & Disaster$355,000

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 budgetWEST VIRGINIA RIVERS COALITION INC: $450,000 over 1y, 23% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR LOUISIANA: $325,000 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetLOUISIANA BUCKET BRIGADE: $275,000 over 1y, 8.3% of budgetALLIANCE FOR AFFORDABLE ENERGY: $250,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetINDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK: $200,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetHONOR THE EARTH: $200,000 over 1y, 7.9% of budgetCENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: $150,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $150,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetThe 88 Project: $120,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetBUSINESS CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE INC: $100,000 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMOUNTAIN WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetINTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR NOT-FOR-PROFIT LAW INC: $85,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetSOUTHWEST ORGANIZING PROJECT: $75,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetPROTECT ELIZABETH TOWNSHIPINC: $75,000 over 1y, 32% of budgetSouth Texas Human Rights Center Inc: $60,000 over 1y, 51% of budgetECO-JUSTICE COLLABORATIVE NFP: $55,000 over 1y, 25% of budgetHEAL THE BAY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetSolidaire Network Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGLOBAL EXCHANGE: $31,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetEXTENSIVE EMPOWERMENT PROJECT INC: $30,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $30,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTEXAS ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% 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.

Rockefeller Philanthr…Rockefeller Family Fu…The Schmidt Family Fo…Windward FundPatagoniaorgTides FoundationUnited States Energy …Amalgamated Charitabl…Resources Legacy FundNatural Resources Def…Sierra ClubSolutions Project Inc
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors IncNY76.9× affinity48 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc · Rockefeller Family Fund Inc · The Schmidt Family Foundation · Windward Fund · Patagoniaorg · Tides Foundation · United States Energy Foundation · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Resources Legacy Fund · Natural Resources Defense Council Inc · Sierra Club · Solutions Project 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 Equation Campaign and Global Climate Legal Defense funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Equation Campaign and Global Climate Legal Defense. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    3get no government money at all
    9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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.
    04Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Equation Campaign and Global Climate Legal Defense?

    Find your warmest path to Equation Campaign and Global Climate Legal Defense through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    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 79 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 Equation Campaign and Global Climate Legal Defense’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