Skip to content
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

The SOUTHERN ALLIANCE FOR CLEAN ENERGY promotes responsible energy choices to ensure clean, safe and healthy communities throughout the southeast.

$355k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$300k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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 2024.

Environment$2.7M
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $55k
  • $250k+1 grant · $300k
$20,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SACE ACTION FUND$300,000
EVHYBRIDNOIRE$20,000
SOUTHEAST SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTORS$20,000
7 DIRECTIONS OF SERVICE$15,000
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 (FY18–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 90% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%ELDERS ACTION NETWORK: $9k → 8%PLUG IN AMERICA: $30k → 14%UNITED METHODIST WOMEN: $9k → 17%SOUTHERN RENEWABLE ENERGY ASSOC: $58k → 11%PEOPLE'S JUSTICE COUNCIL: $9k → 16%THE EQUITY ALLIANCE: $30k → 14%PLANNED PARENTHOOD GREATER MEMPHIS: $10k → 17%NCIPL: $9k → 8%7 DIRECTIONS OF SERVICE: $15k → 13%SOUTHEAST SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTORS: $25k → 16%EVHYBRIDNOIRE: $35k → 13%GIPL: $9k → 14%APPALACHAIN VOICES: $30k → 8%SOUTHEAST SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTORS: $25k → 16%EVHYBRIDNOIRE: $35k → 13%SOUTHEAST SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTORS: $20k → 16%EVHYBRIDNOIRE: $35k → 13%EVHYBRIDNOIRE: $35k → 13%EVHYBRIDNOIRE: $35k → 13%EVHYBRIDNOIRE: $20k → 13%PARTNERSHIP FOR CLEAN TRANSPORTATIO: $10k → 13%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
CA
VA
TN
NC
AL
GA
TX
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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.9M · 4 repeat orgs$198k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +92% since the first grant, against +20% for those funded once.

4 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
10

Total granted

$2.9M
$183k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+92%
+20%

Still filing today

100%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentCivil RightsHealthCommunity ImprovementScience & TechPublic BenefitOther
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

  • SA
    SOUTHERN ALLIANCE FOR CLEAN ENERGY ACTION FUND
    9× · 2017–2025 · $2.6M · revenue -2% · 100% of their budget
  • EI
    EVHYBRIDNOIRE INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $195k · revenue +204%
  • URBAN SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTORS NETWORK
    3× · 2023–2025 · $70k · revenue -28%

Funded once

  • SR
    SOUTHERN RENEWABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $58k · revenue ×22 · 85% of their budget
  • RE
    REAL ESTATE ORGANIZATION
    one grant, 2018 · $30k
  • AV
    APPALACHIAN VOICES
    one grant, 2024 · $30k · revenue 0%
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
Advocates for Climate Innovation
Philanthropy
2
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…

—
3
Fresh Energy

Shape and drive bold policy solutions to achieve equitable carbon-neutral economies.

Environment
4
Energy Independence Now Coalition

Energy independence now (ein) is the only environmental nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing fuel cell electric vehicles (fcevs) and renewable energy storage and deep decorbonization. our organization engages in comprehensive…

Public Benefit
5
Powerswitch Action

Powerswitch action is a national network forging collective democracy and economies in our cities and states, together with our 21 grassroots affiliates.

Community Improvement
6
Texas Clean Energy Coalition
—
7
Smart Electric Power Alliance

The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) is an educational nonprofit working to accelerate the transition to a clean, affordable, and resilient energy system for all.SEPA collaborates with over 1,000 member organizations across the…

Environment
8
Advanced Energy United Inc

To transform public policy to enable rapid growth of advanced energy businesses.

Community Improvement
9
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

The southern alliance for clean energy promotes responsible energy choices to ensure clean, safe and healthy communities throughout the southeast.

Environment
10
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
11
Partnership for Policy Integrity

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

Environment
12
Educator Collective for Envionmental Justice Inc

Environmental Justice & Equality

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Equity Alliance; the most unlike its peers is People's Justice Council. 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

11 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. 11 of the 15 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
7/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SOUTHERN ALLIANCE FOR CLEAN ENERGY ACTION FUND: $2,579,775 · OtherSOUTHERN ALLIANCE FOR CLEAN ENERGY ACTION FUND+4 more: $63,000 · OtherEVHYBRIDNOIRE INC: $195,000 · EnvironmentEVHYBRIDNOI…URBAN SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTORS NETWORK: $70,000 · EnvironmentURBAN SUSTA…APPALACHIAN VOICES: $30,000 · EnvironmentAPPALACHIAN…+2 more: $18,000 · Environment+2 moreTHE EQUITY ALLIANCE: $60,500 · Civil RightsSOUTHERN RENEWABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATION: $58,432 · Community ImprovementPLANNED PARENTHOOD GREATER MEMPHIS REGION INC: $10,000 · HealthCENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION & THE ENVIRONMENT: $10,000 · Science & TechElders Action Network Inc: $9,000 · Public Benefit
Other$2,642,775Environment$313,000Civil Rights$60,500Community Improvement$58,432Health$10,000Science & Tech$10,000Public Benefit$9,000

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 budgetSOUTHERN ALLIANCE FOR CLEAN ENERGY ACTION FUND: $2,579,775 over 9y, 100% of budgetEVHYBRIDNOIRE INC: $195,000 over 6y, 4.4% of budgetURBAN SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTORS NETWORK: $70,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE EQUITY ALLIANCE: $60,500 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetSOUTHERN RENEWABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATION: $58,432 over 1y, 85% of budgetAPPALACHIAN VOICES: $30,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD GREATER MEMPHIS REGION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetElders Action Network Inc: $9,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetGeorgia Interfaith Power & Light Inc: $9,000 over 1y, 1.0% 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.

Environmental Defense…New Venture FundUS Climate Action Net…The Partnership Proje…United States Energy …Amalgamated Charitabl…Network for GoodNational Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …
Environmental Defense Fund IncorporatedNY17.6× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated · New Venture Fund · US Climate Action Network · The Partnership Project Inc · United States Energy Foundation · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Network for Good · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving 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 Southern Alliance for Clean Energy funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    1report 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, FY20–24
    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 Southern Alliance for Clean Energy?

    Find your warmest path to Southern Alliance for Clean Energy 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 15 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 Southern Alliance for Clean Energy’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