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The Outdoor Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

The Outdoor Foundation

The foundation is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes related to outdoor recreation activites and education, including the preservation of the natural environment, addressing issues of the outdoor industry and promoting participation.

$514k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$3.5MRecreation & Sports$1.5MYouth Development$565kAnimals$339kPhilanthropy$286kPublic Benefit$205kHuman Services$187kEducation$80kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k8 grants · $190k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $324k
$25,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$2.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DETROIT PARKS COALITION$100,000
THORNE NATURE EXPERIENCE$100,000
KING COUNTY PLAY EQUITY COALITION$74,029
THE OUTDOOR INCLUSION COALITION$50,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$25,000
NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION$25,000
MAINE AUDUBON$25,000
RIVER CITY OUTDOORS$25,000
FRIENDS OF ANACOSTIA PARK$25,000
THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION$25,000
RIVERSPORT FOUNDATION$25,000
MAINE GEARSHARE$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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $451k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%THE NEW YORK FOUNDLIG: $15k → 17%RIVERSPORT FOUNDATION: $105k → 16%YMCA OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT: $101k → 21%NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE OF MILWAUKEE: $6k → 17%YAKUTAT TLINGI TRIBE NON-PROFIT: $14k → 12%THE SHELTOWEE TRACE ASSOCIATION: $6k → 24%THE NEW YORK FOUNDLING: $12k → 17%RIVERSPORT FOUNDATION: $52k → 16%RIVERSPORT FOUNDATION: $31k → 16%BETTIES360: $5k → 12%RIVERSPORT FOUNDATION: $26k → 16%WOMEN'S WILDERNESS INSITITUTE: $5k → 12%YMCA OF SAN FRANCISCO: $23k → 10%RIVERSPORT FOUNDATION: $25k → 16%RIVERSPORT FOUNDATION: $25k → 16%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
ME
WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
IA
IN
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
AZ
AR
TN
NC
DC
OK
LA
AL
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.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.1M · 27 repeat orgs$1.4M to everyone else

27 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 21 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
85

Total granted

$5.1M
$1.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+68%
+87%

Still filing today

96%
85%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 65% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $164k 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
EnvironmentRecreation & SportsYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesEducationArts & CultureOther
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

  • NP
    NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION
    2× · 2017–2018 · $724k · revenue +117%
  • NW
    NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION
    5× · 2021–2025 · $354k · revenue +37%
  • SP
    SEATTLE PARKS FOUNDATION
    3× · 2022–2024 · $302k · revenue +49%

Funded once

  • YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit
    one grant, 2022 · $101k · revenue +16%
  • SC
    SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $28k · revenue -55%
  • OC
    OTIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGNgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +51%
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
The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust

The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust leads and inspires action to conserve and enhance the landscape of the Mountains to Sound Greenway, ensuring a long-term balance between people and nature.

Environment
2
Outdoor Equity Alliance

To create equitable access to nature in all communities and inspire a diverse new generation of environmental leaders.

Food & Nutrition
3
The Wildlands Conservancy

The Wildlands Conservancy's dual mission is to preserve the beauty and biodiversity of the earth and to provide programs so that children may know the wonder and joy of nature.

Environment
4
Naturebridge

To connect young people to the wonder and science of the natural world, igniting self-discovery and inspiring stewardship of our planet.

Environment
5
Washington Trails Association

Washington trails association is on a mission to connect everyone to the outdoors and build a community that gives back to trails and public lands.

—
6
Environmental Traveling Companions

ETC provides accessible outdoor adventures including whitewater rafting, sea kayaking and leadership training, for people with disabilities, youth from under-resourced backgrounds and volunteer guides.

Environment
7
Cowiche Canyon Conservancy

Protecting our shrub-steppe and connecting people to this vanishing landscape.

—
8
Whatcom Land Trust

The mission of the Whatcom Land Trust is to preserve and protect wildlife habitat, scenic, agricultural and open space lands in Whatcom County for future generations by securing interests in land and promoting land stewardship.

Environment
9
Land Conservancy of West Michigan

Our mission is conserving West Michigans ecologically critical land. We protect land by creating public nature preserves, providing support to communities and local governments in creating natural areas, and helping private landowners…

Environment
10
Nature Collective

Nature collective's mission is to drive a passion for nature for all. we think inclusively and diversely when serving those devoid of nature those who remember nature and want to connect back to it and those who have an affinity with…

Environment
11
Environmental Action Committee of West Marin

To protect and sustain the unique lands, waters, and biodiversity of west marin.

Environment
12
Nature for All

Nature for all builds a diverse base of support to ensure that everyone in the losangeles area has equitable access to the wide range of benefits which natureprovides. we're committed to building support to protect, create access to…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wildlands Trust Inc; the most unlike its peers is River City 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

105 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. 105 of the 118 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
51
Early backer (in before they grew)
103/105
Grantees still filing
87/105
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $724,200 · OtherNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATIONCITY OF GRAND RAPIDS: $486,000 · OtherCITY OF GRAND RAPIDSTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $325,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYCHESAPEAKE BAY TRUST: $300,000 · OtherCHESAPEAKE BAY TRUST+49 more: $846,041 · Other+49 moreTHORNE ECOLOGICAL INSTITUTE: $331,114 · EnvironmentTHORNE ECOLOGICAL INSTITUTETHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $265,590 · EnvironmentTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LANDMaine Audubon Society: $254,499 · EnvironmentMaine Audubon SocietyWILDERNESS INQUIRY INC: $250,750 · EnvironmentWILDERNESS INQUIRY INCWest Atlanta Watershed Alliance: $214,410 · EnvironmentWest Atlanta Watershed Allianc…+33 more: $673,975 · Environment+33 moreRIVERSPORT FOUNDATION: $514,000 · Human ServicesRIVERSPORT…YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit: $101,000 · Human ServicesYMCA of Me…NEW YORK FOUNDLING: $27,000 · Human Services+6 more: $58,900 · Human Services+6 moreTHE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $510,000 · PhilanthropyTHE SAN DI…QUIMBY FAMILY FOUNDATION: $110,000 · PhilanthropyQUIMBY FAM…Friends of Anacostia Park: $25,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $10,000 · PhilanthropySEATTLE PARKS FOUNDATION: $302,000 · Recreation & SportsSEATTLE P…DETROIT PARKS COALITION: $200,000 · Recreation & SportsDETROIT P…Education Without Walls: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsNew York-New Jersey Trail Conference Inc: $23,000 · Recreation & Sports+7 more: $82,800 · Recreation & Sports+7 moreNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $353,500 · Animals+1 more: $10,000 · AnimalsRIVER CITY FOUNDATION: $351,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$2,681,241Environment$1,990,338Human Services$700,900Philanthropy$655,000Recreation & Sports$632,800Animals$363,500Food & Nutrition$351,000

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 budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $724,200 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetRIVERSPORT FOUNDATION: $514,000 over 7y, 2.9% of budgetTHE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $510,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $353,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetRIVER CITY FOUNDATION: $351,000 over 5y, 7.0% of budgetTHORNE ECOLOGICAL INSTITUTE: $331,114 over 3y, 3.7% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $325,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSEATTLE PARKS FOUNDATION: $302,000 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetCHESAPEAKE BAY TRUST: $300,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $265,590 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMaine Audubon Society: $254,499 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetWILDERNESS INQUIRY INC: $250,750 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetWest Atlanta Watershed Alliance: $214,410 over 3y, 13% of budgetDETROIT PARKS COALITION: $200,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetQUIMBY FAMILY FOUNDATION: $110,000 over 4y, 6.2% of budgetYMCA of Metropolitan Detroit: $101,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetKing County Play Equity Coalition: $74,029 over 1y, 8.4% of budgetYADKIN RIVER GREENWAY COUNCIL: $50,000 over 2y, 19% of budgetTIMUCUAN PARKS FOUNDATION INC: $49,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetAppalachian Mountain Club: $49,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetICE AGE TRAIL ALLIANCE INC: $47,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetCONSERVATION LEGACY: $44,800 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOUTDOOR OUTREACH: $38,400 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetFriends of Saguaro National Park: $32,500 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetMISSISSIPPI PARK CONNECTION: $30,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $28,075 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK FOUNDLING: $27,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOTIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFriends of Katahdin Woods & Waters: $25,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetThe Youth Connection Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetGOLDEN HILLS RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT: $25,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetSAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFORD'S THEATRE SOCIETY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetEducation Without Walls: $25,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetGroundwork Richmond Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetTHE STUDENT CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBIG BEND NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION INC: $24,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetWILDLANDS TRUST INC: $24,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetWHIDBEY CAMANO LAND TRUST: $24,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetWILD RIVERS CONSERVANCY OF THE ST CROIX & NAMEKAGON: $24,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF SAN FRANCISCO: $23,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNew York-New Jersey Trail Conference Inc: $23,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetFRESHWATER LAND TRUST: $22,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF KENILWORTH AQUATIC GARDENS: $21,000 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetURBAN ECOLOGY CENTER INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNAHANT MARSH EDUCATION CENTER: $20,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetPROJECT AVARY INC ALTERNATIVE VENTURES FOR AT RISK YOUTH: $20,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING FOR KIDS: $20,000 over 2y, 0.9% 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 Park Foundat…National Recreation F…PatagoniaorgNational Fish and Wil…Rei Cooperative Actio…The Nature ConservancyNational Environmenta…Clif Family FoundationNational Park Trust I…Justice OutsideNational Forest Found…Xcel Energy Foundation
National Park FoundationDC62.1× affinity30 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Park Foundation · National Recreation Foundation Incorporated · Patagoniaorg · National Fish and Wildlife Foundation · Rei Cooperative Action Fund · The Nature Conservancy · National Environmental Education and Training Foundation Inc · Clif Family Foundation · National Park Trust Inc · Justice Outside · National Forest Foundation · Xcel Energy 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 The Outdoor Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Outdoor Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 60%
  • Chesapeake Bay Trust: 100% of income from government
  • Siuslaw Watershed Council Inc: 100% of income from government
  • Raritan Headwaters Association: 94% of income from government
  • Rock Creek Conservancy Inc: 60% of income from government
  • Isles Inc: 21% of income from government
  • Shorerivers Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Wildlands Trust Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Appalachian Mountain Club: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
30report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
4rely 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 118 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 Outdoor’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