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Sea Change Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Sea Change Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$37M
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$20M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Environment$275MPhilanthropy$25MCivil Rights$2.9MEducation$1.6MScience & Tech$1.1MSocial Science$800kArts & Culture$538kPublic Benefit$400kOther$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $50k–250k3 grants · $500k
  • $250k+6 grants · $37M
$3,000,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$209M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION$20,100,000
BUILDING DECARBONNIZATION COALITION$5,000,000
UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION$3,750,000
POTENTIAL ENERGY COALITION INC$3,000,000
PARTNERSHIP PROJECT INC$3,000,000
UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION$2,000,000
BLUEGREEN ALLIANCE FOUNDATION$175,000
2030 INC$175,000
SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION$150,000
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 (FY19–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%BUILDING DECARBONNIZATION COALITION: $5.0M → 9%MULTIPLIER: $5.0M → 10%NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $2.3M → 17%BUILDING DECARBONNIZATION COALITION: $4.5M → 9%AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY EFFICIENT ECONOMY: $2.5M → 14%POTENTIAL ENERGY COALITION INC: $3.5M → 17%AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY EFFICIENT ECONOMY: $1.7M → 14%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $2.1M → 10%POTENTIAL ENERGY COALITION INC: $3.0M → 17%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $1.7M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $19.3M → 10%ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $3.0M → 17%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $13.0M → 10%ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $2.8M → 17%LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $5.3M → 14%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $9.8M → 10%ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $2.3M → 17%LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $5.3M → 14%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $9.0M → 10%ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $2.3M → 17%LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $5.3M → 14%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $7.3M → 10%ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $2.0M → 17%LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $5.3M → 14%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $4.0M → 10%ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $2.0M → 17%LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $4.5M → 14%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $4.0M → 10%ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $1.8M → 17%PARTNERSHIP PROJECT INC: $3.0M → 14%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $4.0M → 10%PARTNERSHIP PROJECT INC: $2.0M → 14%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $3.9M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $3.3M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $3.0M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $2.3M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $2.3M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $2.3M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $2.0M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $2.0M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $2.0M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $2.0M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $2.0M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $2.0M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $2.0M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $20.1M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $3.8M → 10%UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $2.0M → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
WA
MN
NY
MA
OR
OH
PA
CA
CO
NM
DC
GA
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$286M · 28 repeat orgs$11M to everyone else

28 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 22 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

28
12

Total granted

$286M
$11M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+116%

Still filing today

93%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $175k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentScience & TechEducationPhilanthropyCrime & LegalSocial ScienceOther
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

  • UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION
    6× · 2019–2024 · $130M · revenue +40%
  • LO
    LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND
    6× · 2017–2023 · $29M · revenue +353%
  • The Partnership Project Inc
    7× · 2017–2024 · $25M · revenue +35%

Funded once

  • MULTIPLIER
    one grant, 2022 · $5.0M · revenue +17%
  • EC
    EUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $2.0M
  • RM
    RESOURCE MEDIA A NONPROFIT CORPORATION
    one grant, 2017 · $1.1M
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
Climate Catalyst Inc

Climate catalyst sparks collective action to tackle the biggest climate challenges we face today: cutting emissions in heavy industries.

Environment
2
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
3
Advocates for Climate Innovation
Philanthropy
4
Coalition for Green Capital D/B/a American Green Bank Consortium

Cgc operates as a nonprofit financial institution that invests directly and through partners to transform financial markets by using public and private investing to accelerate the deployment of projects that strengthen the grid, reduce…

Environment
5
CarbonPlan

Improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions through open data and tools.

Environment
6
The Climate Center

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.

Education
7
Watttime Corporation

To raise awareness about the potential to reduce environmental harm by shifting electricity use to particular times; to encourage the development and spread of common protocols for this practice.

Science & Tech
8
Solar Energy Industries Association

Seia is the driving force behind solar energy and storage, building a stronger solar industry to power america through advocacy and education. representing organizations that promote, manufacture, install and support the development of…

—
9
National Caucus of Environmental Legislators

The national caucus of environmental legislators empowers a nonpartisan network of legislative champions to protect, conserve, and improve the natural and human environment.

Education
10
Center for Climate and Energy Solutions Inc

The nonpartisan center for climate and energy solutions works to secure a safe and stable climate by accelerating the global transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and a thriving, just, and resilient economy. for over 25 years,…

Environment
11
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
12
American Gas Association

American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy; the most unlike its peers is World Wildlife Fund Inc. 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

38 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. 38 of the 44 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
38/38
Grantees still filing
29/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $129,950,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATIONROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $18,577,179 · PhilanthropyROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INCTIDES FOUNDATION: $5,450,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $750,000 · PhilanthropyLEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $29,487,500 · EnvironmentLEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FU…The Partnership Project Inc: $24,525,000 · EnvironmentThe Partnership Project IncAMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY: $9,850,000 · EnvironmentAMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT E…BUILDING DECARBONIZATION COALITION: $9,500,000 · EnvironmentBUILDING DECARBONIZATION COALITIONSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $8,000,000 · EnvironmentSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATIONVote Solar: $7,200,000 · EnvironmentVote SolarREGULATORY ASSISTANCE PROJECT: $7,100,000 · EnvironmentREGULATORY ASSISTANCE PROJECTMULTIPLIER: $5,000,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $4,837,500 · EnvironmentCERES INC: $4,687,500 · Environment+11 more: $11,945,000 · Environment+11 moreTHE ENERGY FOUNDATION: $17,464,999 · OtherTHE ENERGY …Potential Energy Coalition Inc: $6,500,000 · OtherPotential E…EUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATION: $2,000,000 · OtherEUROPEAN CL…INSTITUTE FOR ENERGY ECONOMICS AND FINANCIAL ANALY: $1,750,000 · OtherINSTITUTE F…NEW BUILDINGS INSTITUTE INC: $1,137,500 · OtherRESOURCE MEDIA A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $1,075,000 · Other+7 more: $2,307,465 · Other+7 moreCLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION: $5,500,000 · Science & Tech+1 more: $150,000 · Science & TechCENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: $4,200,000 · Civil RightsGEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $950,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $650,000 · EducationWestern Resource Advocates: $1,550,000 · Crime & Legal
Philanthropy$154,727,179Environment$122,132,500Other$32,234,964Science & Tech$5,650,000Civil Rights$4,200,000Education$1,600,000Crime & Legal$1,550,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUNITED STATES ENERGY FOUNDATION: $129,950,000 over 6y, 14% of budgetLEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $29,487,500 over 6y, 23% of budgetThe Partnership Project Inc: $24,525,000 over 7y, 18% of budgetROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $18,577,179 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetTHE ENERGY FOUNDATION: $17,464,999 over 2y, 12% of budgetAMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY: $9,850,000 over 5y, 27% of budgetBUILDING DECARBONIZATION COALITION: $9,500,000 over 2y, 33% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $8,000,000 over 7y, 2.2% of budgetVote Solar: $7,200,000 over 5y, 22% of budgetREGULATORY ASSISTANCE PROJECT: $7,100,000 over 4y, 30% of budgetPotential Energy Coalition Inc: $6,500,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetCLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION: $5,500,000 over 2y, 5.0% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $5,450,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetMULTIPLIER: $5,000,000 over 1y, 8.9% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $4,837,500 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetCERES INC: $4,687,500 over 7y, 5.3% of budgetCENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: $4,200,000 over 4y, 3.3% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $2,650,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetGridLab Inc: $2,615,000 over 4y, 36% of budgetWestern Resource Advocates: $1,550,000 over 2y, 9.3% of budgetALLIANCE TO SAVE ENERGY: $1,520,000 over 3y, 15% of budgetNEW BUILDINGS INSTITUTE: $1,175,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetACTIVATE GLOBAL INC: $1,000,000 over 4y, 7.3% of budgetGEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $950,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetSOUTHWEST ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECT: $910,000 over 2y, 21% of budgetNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $750,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNW ENERGY COALITION: $730,000 over 2y, 37% of budgetUS CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK: $725,000 over 2y, 20% of budgetBlueGreen Alliance Foundation: $650,000 over 5y, 3.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $650,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $375,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetINTERSTATE RENEWABLE ENERGY COUNCIL: $375,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetTHE CLIMATE GROUP INC: $300,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetCLIMATE SOLUTIONS: $300,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $225,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget2030 INC: $175,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetNATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC: $50,000 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.

United States Energy …The Heising-Simons Fo…Climate Imperative Fo…Climateworks Foundati…The William & Flora H…The Energy FoundationThe McKnight Foundati…Combined Jewish Phila…Sequoia Climate Found…Freedom Together Foun…John D and Catherine …The Bloomberg Family …
United States Energy FoundationCA33.6× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: United States Energy Foundation · The Heising-Simons Foundation · Climate Imperative Foundation · Climateworks Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · The Energy Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Sequoia Climate Foundation · Freedom Together Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Bloomberg Family Foundation 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 Sea Change Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sea Change Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 100%
  • New Buildings Institute: 100% of income from government
  • Ceres Inc: 0% of 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)
1rely 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Sea Change Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Sea Change 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 44 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Sea Change’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