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Nature Defense Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Nature Defense Foundation

Its FY2020 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$591k
Granted FY2020
18
Grants FY2020
7
States reached
$434k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2020.

Animals$2.7MInternational$224kEnvironment$90kCivil Rights$11kHousing & Shelter$5kYouth Development$5kHuman Services$5kOther$0
02FY2020 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k15 grants · $78k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $70k
  • $250k+1 grant · $434k
$5,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SINDISA SANCTUARY$433,525
RETURN TO FREEDOM INC$70,000
GENERATION AWAKENING$10,000
DIRECT ACTION EVERYWHERE$7,500
Individual grant recipient$5,000
FRIENDS OF THE EARTH$5,000
SPCA INTERNATIONAL$5,000
COMMMWEALTH$5,000
PEACEFUL VALLEY DONKEY$5,000
SHADOW'S FUND$5,000
THE WHALE SANCTUARY PROJECT$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
HUMAN SOCIETY OF SONOMA$5,000
BEST FRIEND OF AMIMAL SOCIETY$5,000
FOUR PAWS INTERNATIONAL$5,000
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 (FY17–20) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 19% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%FOUR PAWS INTERNATIONAL: $5k → 16%OCEANIC PRESERVATION SOCIETY: $50k → 8%SINDISA SANCTUARY: $1.1M → 9%GENERATION AWAKENING: $10k → 10%THE CORAL REEF ALLIANCE: $20k → 10%SAVE THE REDWOODS: $5k → 10%MERCY FOR ANIMALS: $10k → 14%SHADOW'S FUND: $5k → 14%SPCA INTERNATIONAL: $5k → 17%PEACEFUL VALLEY DONKEY: $5k → 13%FRIENDS OF THE EARTH: $5k → 14%NONHUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT: $10k → 13%ANIMAL RECOVERY MISSION: $5k → 15%GREAT WHALE CONSERVANCE: $1k → 12%BEST FRIEND OF AMIMAL SOCIETY: $5k → 9%ELEPHANT AID INTERNATIONAL: $238k → 23%WILDCARE: $5k → 8%SINDISA SANCTUARY: $434k → 9%THE DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST: $10k → 10%DIRECT ACTION EVERYWHERE: $8k → 10%ANIMAL HOPE AND WELLNESS FOUNDATION: $25k → 14%COMMMWEALTH: $5k → 17%THE WHALE SANCTUARY PROJECT: $5k → 9%ELEPHANT AID INTERNATIONAL: $203k → 23%SINDISA SANCTUARY: $413k → 9%ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIA ASSOCIATION: $5k → 14%ELEPHANT AID INTERNATIONAL: $21k → 23%SINDISA SANCTUARY: $172k → 9%HUMAN SOCIETY OF SONOMA: $5k → 9%SONOMA COMM ANIMAL RESPONSE TEAM: $10k → 9%ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND: $25k → 9%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

NY
MA
CA
UT
NC
DC
GA
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 grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.8M · 3 repeat orgs$249k to everyone else

3 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2020, 1 since wound down; 16 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
9

Total granted

$2.8M
$161k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+57%
+101%

Still filing today

67%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $88k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20
AnimalsEnvironmentEducationOther
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

  • ND
    NATURE DEFENSE FOUNDATION
    4× · 2017–2020 · $2.1M · revenue -45% · 97% of their budget
  • EA
    ELEPHANT AID INTERNATIONAL
    3× · 2017–2019 · $462k
  • RT
    RETURN TO FREEDOM INC
    4× · 2017–2020 · $165k · revenue +57%

Funded once

  • OP
    Oceanic Preservation Societygraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $50k · revenue +35%
  • AL
    ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +55%
  • AH
    ANIMAL HOPE AND WELLNESS FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2018 · $25k · revenue -69%
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
Global Animal Partnership
Animals
2
World Animal Protection

World animal protection is a global organization working to end factory farming and wildlife exploitation. we expose cruel systems, promote animal-friendly alternatives, and influence policy change. for over 75 years, we've been rewriting…

Animals
3
Peace 4 Animals

Peace 4 animals animal welfare organization supports the conservation of endangered species worldwide. we work on campaigns to promote advocacy and education on how to protect wildlife in peril, as well as the preservation of their natural…

Animals
4
Animal Outlook Inc

Animal outlook is a national animal protection organization working to end the abuse of farmed animals using a variety of strategies, including investigations, legal advocacy, corporate and food system reform, and vegan outreach.

Animals
5
American Humane Association

Founded in 1877, american humane association, dba american humane society (american humane) is committed to ensuring the safety, welfare and well-being of animals. our leadership programs are first to serve in promoting and nurturing the…

Animals
6
Animal Freedom Inc

The organization works to create a world where all animals have their freedom respected by society and protected in law.

Animals
7
Humane World Action Fund

To pass animal protection laws, educate the public, and support humane candidates for office.

Animals
8
Animal Wellness Action

To prevent cruelty to animals, we promote enacting and enforcing good public policies. enacting good laws depends upon electing good lawmakers, and we remind voters which candidates care about and support animal issues.

Human Services
9
Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary Inc

We seek to end animal agriculture by rescuing farmed animals, giving them lifelong care and sanctuary, and educating about the harms of animal farming.

Animals
10
Humane World for Animals International

HUMANE WORLD FOR ANIMALS INTERNATIONAL, FKA HUMANE SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL (HSI), works around the globe to promote the human-animal bond, rescue and protect dogs and cats, improve farm animal welfare, protect wildlife, promote animal-free…

Animals
11
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
12
The Animal Welfare Foundation
—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mercy for Animals Inc; the most unlike its peers is Nature Defense Foundation. 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

20 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. 20 of the 28 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/20
Grantees still filing
17/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATURE DEFENSE FOUNDATION: $2,138,476 · AnimalsNATURE DEFENSE FOUNDATIONRETURN TO FREEDOM INC: $165,380 · AnimalsRETURN TO FREEDOM INC+12 more: $117,500 · AnimalsELEPHANT AID INTERNATIONAL: $462,000 · OtherELEPHANT AID INTER…+8 more: $41,300 · Other+8 moreOceanic Preservation Society: $50,000 · EnvironmentTHE CORAL REEF ALLIANCE: $20,000 · EnvironmentTHE ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIA ASSOCIATIONINC: $5,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF THE EARTH: $5,000 · EnvironmentGENERATION AWAKENING: $10,000 · Education
Animals$2,421,356Other$503,300Environment$80,000Education$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNATURE DEFENSE FOUNDATION: $2,138,476 over 4y, 97% of budgetRETURN TO FREEDOM INC: $165,380 over 4y, 4.9% of budgetOceanic Preservation Society: $50,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetANIMAL HOPE AND WELLNESS FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetTHE CORAL REEF ALLIANCE: $20,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNonhuman Rights Project Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetMERCY FOR ANIMALS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST USA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDIRECT ACTION EVERYWHERE: $7,500 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetWILDCARE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE WHALE SANCTUARY PROJECT: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetSPCA INTERNATIONAL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANIMAL RECOVERY MISSION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSHADOWS FUND INCORPORATED: $5,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetFOUR PAWS INTERNATIONAL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPeaceful Valley Donkey Rescue Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIA ASSOCIATIONINC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE EARTH: $5,000 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.

Paypal Charitable Giv…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…The Pfizer Foundation…Raymond James Charita…Vanguard Charitable E…Network for GoodAmerican Online Givin…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…The Bank of America C…Fidelity Investments …
Paypal Charitable Giving FundDC13.2× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Network for Good · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Nature Defense Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Nature Defense Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get 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
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Nature Defense Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Nature Defense Foundation 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 28 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-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Nature 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