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National Wildlife Refuge Association at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

National Wildlife Refuge Association

To conserve america's wildlife heritage for future generations through strategic programs that protect and enhance the national wildlife refuge system and the landscapes beyond its boundaries.

$8k
Granted FY2022
1
Grants FY2022
1
States reached
$8k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its 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 2022.

Environment$187kArts & Culture$33kEducation$25kAnimals$25kYouth Development$25k
02FY2022 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$7,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$478k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WILDLANDS NETWORK$7,500
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 (FY17–22) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 62% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%REFUGE FRIENDS INC: $25k → 11%SAN FRANCISCO BAY WILDLIFE SOCIETY: $25k → 10%FRIENDS OF THE WILDLIFE CORRIDOR: $25k → 27%FRIENDS OF THE ARTHUR R MARSHALL LOXAHATCHEE NWR: $25k → 11%INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ALLIANCE: $25k → 21%NORTH CAROLINA WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $25k → 10%WILDLANDS NETWORK: $8k → 8%FRIENDS OF FRONT RANGE WILDLIFE REFUGES: $25k → 10%ALASKA GEOGRAPHIC: $25k → 10%FRIENDS OF ALASKA NWRS: $15k → 11%FRIENDS OF LOUISIANA WILDLIFE REFUGES INC: $17k → 11%NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC: $25k → 19%REFUGE FRIENDS INC: $13k → 11%NORTH CAROLINA WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $5k → 10%REFUGE FRIENDS INC: $13k → 11%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

AK
MN
MI
CA
UT
CO
MD
NC
LA
TX
FL
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 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
Wilderness Conservation Foundation
Environment
2
Forever Wild Wildlife Rescue
Animals
3
Friends of Stone Lakes National Wildlife
Environment
4
Interlaken Wildlife Foundation
Animals
5
Friends of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge

Friends of ottawa national wildlife refuge supports the conservation mission of ohio's only national wildlife refuge complex by acquiring land, engaging the community, and enhancing public access.

Animals
6
National Ecological Observatory Network Inc
Recreation & Sports
7
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
8
Friends of Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge

The mission of the Friends of Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge shall be to educate the public regarding the flora, fauna, and natural environment of the Refuge, through functions and educational events, promote public support for…

Philanthropy
9
Alaska Wildlife Alliance

Support ecosystem-based wildlife management by increasing public awareness of wildlife issues, responding to information requests, advocating for science-based wildlife habitat management through proposal and comment submissions, and…

Environment
10
Friends of Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge

Promotes conservation, awareness of wildlife and its habitats

Animals
11
Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation

Jackson hole wildlife foundation advances wildlife conservation driven by science, collaboration, and a community of volunteers.

Animals
12
North American Wilderness Recovery

Conservation Education

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Friends of the Wildlife Corridor; the most unlike its peers is Wild Earth Society Incorporated. 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

12 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
8/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MINNESOTA VALLEY REFUGE FRIENDS: $50,000 · EnvironmentMINNESOTA VALLEY REFUGE FRIENDSNorth Carolina Wildlife Federation Inc: $30,000 · EnvironmentNorth Carolina Wildlife Federation IncINTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ALLIANCE: $25,000 · EnvironmentINTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ALLIANCEALASKA GEOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATION: $24,907 · EnvironmentALASKA GEOGRAPHIC ASSOCIATIONFRIENDS OF ALASKA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES: $15,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF ALASKA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGESNATIONAL AQUARIUM INC: $25,000 · AnimalsNATIONAL AQUARIUM INCSAN FRANCISCO BAY WILDLIFE SOCIETY: $25,000 · AnimalsSAN FRANCISCO BAY WILDLIF…FRIENDS OF LOUISIANA WILDLIFE REFUGES INC: $17,108 · AnimalsFRIENDS OF LOUISIANA WILD…FRIENDS OF THE WILDLIFE CORRIDOR: $25,000 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF T…Wild Earth Society Incorporated: $7,500 · Arts & CultureWild Earth S…FRIENDS OF THE FRONT RANGE WILDLIFE REFUGES: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsFRIENDS O…FRIENDS OF THE ARTHUR R MARSHALL LOXAHATCHEE NTL WILDLIFE REFUGE INC: $25,000 · OtherFRIENDS O…
Environment$144,907Animals$67,108Arts & Culture$32,500Recreation & Sports$25,000Other$25,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNorth Carolina Wildlife Federation Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetNATIONAL AQUARIUM INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE FRONT RANGE WILDLIFE REFUGES: $25,000 over 1y, 25% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ARTHUR R MARSHALL LOXAHATCHEE NTL WILDLIFE REFUGE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE WILDLIFE CORRIDOR: $25,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO BAY WILDLIFE SOCIETY: $25,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetINTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ALLIANCE: $25,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF LOUISIANA WILDLIFE REFUGES INC: $17,108 over 1y, 45% of budgetWild Earth Society Incorporated: $7,500 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

National Fish and Wil…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
National Fish and Wildlife FoundationDC21× affinity8 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation · 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 National Wildlife Refuge Association funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from National Wildlife Refuge Association. 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 10%
  • Friends of the Arthur R Marshall Loxahatchee Ntl Wildlife Refuge Inc: 10% of income from government
  • National Aquarium Inc: 1% of 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
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 12 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2022, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on National Wildlife Refuge Association’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