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· Public charity

The Partnership Project Inc

The Partnership Project is organized and operated exclusively to enhance protection of the natural environment by improving the effectiveness of environmental organizations.

$11M
Granted FY2024still arriving
67
Grants FY2024still arriving
24
States reached
$900k
Largest
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$56MPublic Benefit$4.7MAnimals$3.3MHealth$3.0MCivil Rights$2.7MPhilanthropy$1.9MCommunity Improvement$1.7MEducation$1.3MOther$0
02FY2024 · 67 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 67 grants below total $7,281,984, the rows itemized in this filing. The $11,482,370 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $4,200,386 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k25 grants · $729k
  • $50k–250k36 grants · $4.3M
  • $250k+5 grants · $2.3M
$65,000
Median grant
24
States reached
$30M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Center for Earth Energy and Democracy$900,000
Earthworks$419,000
Electric Vehicles Association$378,026
Tides Foundation$290,000
Interfaith Power & Light$265,464
Sierra Club Foundation$223,000
The Hack Foundation$221,865
GreenLatinos$212,000
Western Leaders Network$200,000
Voto Latino Foundation$200,000
The YEARS Project$200,000
Black Progressive Action Coalition Education Fund$200,000
The Next 100 Syndicate$192,657
Coming Clean Inc$184,000
Public Citizen Foundation Inc$170,000
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 (FY18–24, $1.1M) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Harambee House Inc: $205k → 16%Outside Las Vegas Foundation: $15k → 13%Make the Road States - Nevada: $25k → 20%HARAMBEE HOUSE INC: $195k → 16%Harambee House Inc: $105k → 16%Harambee House Inc: $100k → 16%Harambee House Inc: $55k → 16%UNLIMITED POTENTIAL: $17k → 11%We the People of Detroit: $25k → 21%We the People of Detroit: $25k → 21%Student Organizing Inc: $50k → 16%Student Organizing Inc: $35k → 16%Tides Center: $10k → 10%STUDENT ORGANIZING INC: $10k → 16%HISPANIC ACCESS: $70k → 14%HISPANIC ACCESS: $50k → 14%Hispanic Access: $45k → 14%Hispanic Access: $35k → 14%Hispanic Access: $35k → 14%Hispanic Access: $35k → 14%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
VT
WA
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CA
UT
CO
NE
KY
WV
VA
MD
AZ
NM
KS
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$69M · 99 repeat orgs$8.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +63% since the first grant, against +27% for those funded once.

99 repeat relationships: 48 still active in FY2024, 51 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

99
127

Total granted

$69M
$7.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+63%
+27%

Still filing today

95%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.1M 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
EnvironmentCivil RightsCommunity ImprovementPublic BenefitEducationHealthOther
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

  • NW
    NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION
    7× · 2017–2023 · $3.3M · revenue +72%
  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
    7× · 2017–2023 · $3.3M · revenue +202%
  • EA
    ENVIRONMENT AMERICA RESEARCH AND POLICY CENTER INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $3.2M · revenue +186% · 36% of their budget

Funded once

  • RI
    RGISC INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $501k · revenue +50% · 50% of their budget
  • PI
    PLUG IN AMERICA
    one grant, 2023 · $359k · revenue +21%
  • J
    JUSTFUNDUSgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $300k · revenue +42%
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
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
2
E3G Third Generation Environmentalism

E3g is a leading international not-for-profit think tank specialising in climate diplomacy harnessing expertise in the politics and economics of climate change.

Environment
3
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…

—
4
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
5
Advocates for Climate Innovation
Philanthropy
6
CarbonPlan

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

Environment
7
Partnership for Policy Integrity

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

Environment
8
Environment Next Inc

Environment next supports individuals, nonprofits and businesses around the world on solutions to complex climate issues. we provide leadership, outreach and communication support, grants, and investments to empower leaders and their ideas…

Environment
9
Nature for Justice

To empower frontline communities to lead nature-based solutions that advance climate justice, ecosystem restoration, and resilient livelihoods through connecting locally-led initiatives to funding, markets, and technical support.

Environment
10
Environmental Law and Policy Center of the Midwest

The environmental law & policy center (elpc) is the midwest's leading public interest environmental legal advocacy and ecobusiness innovation organization, and among the nation's leaders. we develop and lead successful strategic…

Environment
11
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
12
Cleaner Economy Coalition Inc

Driving american jobs and competitiveness by leveraging our cleaner economy and enabling u.s. manufacturers to lead in advanced energy technologies.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Environment America Inc; the most unlike its peers is Lynnhaven River Now. 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

227 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. 227 of the 250 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.

21
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
78
Early backer (in before they grew)
221/227
Grantees still filing
149/227
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

RESOURCES LEGACY FUND: $10,871,500 · EnvironmentRESOURCES LEGACY FUNDENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $3,254,695 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATEDENVIRONMENT AMERICA RESEARCH AND POLICY CENTER INC: $3,195,746 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENT AMERICA RESEARCH AND POLICY CENTER INCSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $3,164,986 · EnvironmentSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATIONCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $2,519,342 · EnvironmentCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INCGreenLatinos: $1,911,875 · EnvironmentLEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $1,829,100 · EnvironmentEARTHJUSTICE: $1,807,830 · Environment+73 more: $17,612,958 · Environment+73 moreTHE REGENERATION PROJECT: $1,306,324 · OtherTHE REGENERATION PROJ…triplecheck: $870,000 · OthertriplecheckCatholic Climate Covenant: $667,905 · OtherCOMMUNITY NETWORKING RESOURCES INC: $625,000 · OtherVIRGINIA ORGANIZING INC: $1,048,335 · OtherVIRGINIA ORGANIZING I…The New School: $783,900 · OtherHarambee House Inc: $660,000 · OtherTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $615,816 · OtherHIP HOP CAUCUS EDUCATION FUND: $628,718 · Other+70 more: $7,823,450 · Other+70 moreLEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS INC: $3,042,876 · Civil RightsCENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: $877,000 · Civil RightsMI FAMILIA VOTA: $260,825 · Civil RightsVOTO LATINO FOUNDATION INC: $215,000 · Civil RightsEKO AND AFFILIATE: $215,000 · Civil Rights+10 more: $643,800 · Civil RightsNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $3,298,738 · AnimalsCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $385,000 · Animals+1 more: $31,000 · AnimalsEarthworks: $1,885,639 · Public BenefitPUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC: $516,000 · Public BenefitAMERICAN SECURITY PROJECT: $307,000 · Public BenefitGround Game Fund: $211,965 · Public BenefitCENTER FOR POPULAR DEMOCRACY INC: $200,000 · Public BenefitAB FOUNDATION: $200,000 · Public Benefit+4 more: $205,500 · Public BenefitAMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION: $1,248,510 · HealthChildren's Environmental Health Network: $855,600 · HealthNational Medical Association: $283,000 · HealthAUXILIARY TO THE NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION INC: $135,000 · Health+2 more: $85,000 · HealthTHE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION: $527,867 · PhilanthropyTIDES FOUNDATION: $430,219 · PhilanthropyJUSTFUNDUS: $300,000 · PhilanthropyLULAC INSTITUTE INC: $283,445 · PhilanthropyROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $155,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GREATER JOHNSTOWN: $85,000 · Philanthropy
Environment$46,168,032Other$15,029,448Civil Rights$5,254,501Animals$3,714,738Public Benefit$3,526,104Health$2,607,110Philanthropy$1,781,531

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetRESOURCES LEGACY FUND: $10,871,500 over 2y, 9.2% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $3,298,738 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $3,254,695 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetENVIRONMENT AMERICA RESEARCH AND POLICY CENTER INC: $3,195,746 over 8y, 36% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $3,164,986 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetLEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS INC: $3,042,876 over 7y, 1.9% of budgetCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $2,519,342 over 6y, 8.7% of budgetGreenLatinos: $1,911,875 over 8y, 45% of budgetEarthworks: $1,885,639 over 8y, 5.8% of budgetLEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $1,829,100 over 3y, 3.7% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $1,807,830 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetTHE REGENERATION PROJECT: $1,306,324 over 7y, 22% of budgetAMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION: $1,248,510 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $1,109,630 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetCENTER FOR EARTH ENERGY AND DEMOCRACY: $1,054,219 over 5y, 36% of budgetVIRGINIA ORGANIZING INC: $1,048,335 over 8y, 3.0% of budgetThe Green Door Initiative: $921,500 over 4y, 54% of budgetDEEP SOUTH CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL: $905,000 over 5y, 3.0% of budgetCENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: $877,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgettriplecheck: $870,000 over 2y, 100% of budgetWest Harlem Environmental Action Inc: $856,377 over 7y, 3.2% of budgetChildren's Environmental Health Network: $855,600 over 5y, 69% of budgetThe Partnership Project Action Fund: $810,000 over 3y, 7.5% of budgetClean Air Council: $791,800 over 7y, 6.2% of budgetThe New School: $783,900 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCOMING CLEAN INC: $757,000 over 5y, 7.3% of budgetDREAMORG: $729,450 over 2y, 9.1% of budgetCatholic Climate Covenant: $667,905 over 8y, 16% of budgetHarambee House Inc: $660,000 over 5y, 31% of budgetTHE YEARS PROJECT INC: $648,000 over 2y, 26% of budgetHIP HOP CAUCUS EDUCATION FUND: $628,718 over 5y, 6.8% of budgetELECTRIFICATION COALITION FOUNDATION: $622,900 over 2y, 14% of budgetTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $615,816 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetTHE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION: $527,867 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC: $516,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetYOUNG GIFTED & GREEN: $509,123 over 6y, 38% of budgetRGISC INC: $500,500 over 1y, 50% of budgetTHE NATIONAL RELIGIOUS PARTNERSHIP FOR THE ENVIRONMENT INC: $492,400 over 6y, 32% of budgetBlueGreen Alliance Foundation: $487,743 over 5y, 4.4% of budgetElectric Vehicle Association: $473,926 over 3y, 77% of budgetEvangelical Environmental Network: $432,742 over 6y, 11% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $430,219 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSolutions From The Land: $415,000 over 6y, 26% of budgetDAKOTA RESOURCE COUNCIL: $400,900 over 6y, 24% of budgetCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $385,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetTHE HACK FOUNDATION D/B/A HACK CLUB: $368,451 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetPLUG IN AMERICA: $358,647 over 1y, 16% of budgetCONTINENTAL DIVIDE TRAIL COALITION: $324,465 over 2y, 15% 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.

  • Who funds RESOURCES LEGACY FUND ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION ↗
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENT AMERICA RESEARCH AND POLICY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS INC ↗
  • Who funds CLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC ↗
  • Who funds GreenLatinos ↗
  • Who funds Earthworks ↗
  • Who funds LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND ↗
  • Who funds EARTHJUSTICE ↗
  • Who funds THE REGENERATION PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR EARTH ENERGY AND DEMOCRACY ↗
  • Who funds VIRGINIA ORGANIZING INC ↗
  • Who funds The Green Door Initiative ↗
  • Who funds DEEP SOUTH CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS ↗
  • Who funds triplecheck ↗
  • Who funds West Harlem Environmental Action Inc ↗
  • Who funds Children's Environmental Health Network ↗
  • Who funds The Partnership Project Action Fund ↗
  • Who funds Clean Air Council ↗
  • Who funds The New School ↗
  • Who funds COMING CLEAN INC ↗
  • Who funds DREAMORG ↗
  • Who funds Catholic Climate Covenant ↗
  • Who funds Harambee House Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE YEARS PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds HIP HOP CAUCUS EDUCATION FUND ↗
  • Who funds ELECTRIFICATION COALITION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG GIFTED & GREEN ↗
  • Who funds RGISC INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NATIONAL RELIGIOUS PARTNERSHIP FOR THE ENVIRONMENT INC ↗
  • Who funds BlueGreen Alliance Foundation ↗

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 FoundationCA145.1× affinity90 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: United States Energy Foundation · Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated · Resources Legacy Fund · The Energy Foundation · Natural Resources Defense Council Inc · Windward Fund · Patagoniaorg · The Partnership Project Action Fund · Western Conservation Foundation · National Wildlife Federation · The Schmidt Family Foundation · Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (See) 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 The Partnership Project Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Partnership Project Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 100%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Ironbound Community Corporation: 100% of income from government
  • New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance: 39% of income from government
  • Karuna Center for Peacebuilding Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Alianza Center Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Ceres Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
10get no government money at all
33report 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.

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 250 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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