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

· Public charity

Trees Foundation

Trees Foundation mission is to restore the ecological integrity of california's north coast by empowering & assisting regional community based efforts that promote healthy land stewardship.

$57k
Granted FY2022
1
Grants FY2022
1
States reached
$6k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2022.

Environment$30kAnimals$2kOther$0
02FY2022 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 1 grants below total $5,645, the rows itemized in this filing. The $56,783 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $51,138 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.
$5,645
Median grant
1
States reached
$973k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Unite the Park$5,645
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 (FY21–22) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 69% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%Montana Wilderness Association: $150 → 9%Unite the Park: $6k → 8%Turtle Island Restoration Network: $3k → 8%Surfrider Foundation: $250 → 10%Berkeley Ecology Center: $3k → 10%California Native Plant Society: $200 → 12%Salmon River Restoration Council: $250 → 16%Northcoast Marine Mammal Center: $500 → 17%Safe Alternatives for our Forest Environment: $250 → 17%Eel River Recovery Project: $2k → 18%Cornell Lab of Ornithology: $250 → 16%American Rivers: $100 → 14%Rogue Riverkeeper: $250 → 13%Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center: $250 → 18%Salmonid Restoration Federation: $1k → 18%Mid Klamath Watershed Council: $2k → 18%Humboldt Wildlife Bird Center: $250 → 18%Humboldt Baykeepers: $2k → 18%Mattole Restoration Council: $3k → 18%Environmental Protection Information Center: $500 → 18%Human Nature LCLRR: $250 → 18%Friends of the Dunes: $250 → 18%Sanctuary Forest: $2k → 18%Friends of the Lost Coast: $2k → 18%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.
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 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
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
2
Tuolumne River Preservation Trust dba Yosemite Rivers Alliance

At Yosemite Rivers Alliance, we unite conservation and community to protect and restore the three rivers that ?ow through the Yosemite Regionthe Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and Merced.

—
3
Elkhorn Slough Foundation

The Elkhorn Slough Foundation's mission is to conserve and restore Elkhorn Slough and its watershed, California's largest tidal salt marsh south of San Francisco Bay. Renowned for its extraordinary biodiversity, Elkhorn Slough features a…

Philanthropy
4
Sustainable Conservation

Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…

Environment
5
CalWild

The California Wilderness Coalition protects the natural landscapes that make California unique, providing clean air and water, a home to wildlife, and a place for recreation and spiritual renewal.

—
6
Resource Renewal Institute

The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.

Environment
7
Wild Earth Society Incorporated

Wildlands Network works to reconnect, restore and rewild North America so that life-in all its diversity-can thrive.

Arts & Culture
8
Sierra Streams Institute

To promote community stewardship and advance scientific knowledge of watersheds through reserarch, monitoring and education for the benefit of the Sierra Nevada region and beyond.

Environment
9
Cascadia Wildlands

Cascadia wildlands defends and restores cacasia's wild ecosystems in the forests,in the courts, and in the streets. we envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and…

Environment
10
Santa Clara River Conservancy

The Santa Clara River Conservancy represents the diverse interests of the Santa Clara River, from the flood plain to the highest tributaries, and seeks to secure, sustain, and manage significant lands and waters that provide habitat for…

Environment
11
Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center Inc

CSERC protects water, wildlife, and wild places of the Northern Yosemite region.

Unclassified
12
Environmental Defense Center

The organization protects and enhances the local environment through education, advocacy and legal action.

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Salmon River Restoration Council; the most unlike its peers is Friends of the Lost Coast. 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

27 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. 27 of the 29 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/27
Grantees still filing
19/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNITE THE PARKS: $5,645 · EnvironmentUNITE THE PARKSMATTOLE RESTORATION COUNCIL: $3,000 · EnvironmentMATTOLE RESTORATION COUNCILWOMENS FOREST SANCTUARY: $3,000 · EnvironmentWOMENS FOREST SANCTUARYECOLOGY CENTER: $3,000 · EnvironmentECOLOGY CENTERTURTLE ISLAND RESTORATION NETWORK: $3,000 · EnvironmentTURTLE ISLAND RESTORATION NETWORKSANCTUARY FOREST INC: $2,000 · EnvironmentSANCTUARY FOREST INCEEL RIVER RECOVERY PROJECT INC: $1,750 · EnvironmentEEL RIVER RECOVERY PROJECT INCNorthcoast Environmental Center: $1,750 · EnvironmentNorthcoast Environmental CenterFriends of the Lost Coast: $1,500 · EnvironmentMID KLAMATH WATERSHED COUNCIL: $1,500 · Environment+10 more: $2,950 · Environment+10 moreSalmonid Restoration Federation Inc: $1,000 · AnimalsCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $600 · AnimalsNORTHCOAST MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $500 · AnimalsXERCES SOCIETY INC: $250 · AnimalsBird Ally X: $250 · AnimalsSALMON FOREVER: $500 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $250 · OtherSAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE INC: $250 · OtherCornell University: $250 · Education
Environment$29,095Animals$2,600Other$1,000Education$250

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

25%50%75%100%$10k$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUNITE THE PARKS: $5,645 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetMATTOLE RESTORATION COUNCIL: $3,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWOMENS FOREST SANCTUARY: $3,000 over 1y, 32% of budgetECOLOGY CENTER: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTURTLE ISLAND RESTORATION NETWORK: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSANCTUARY FOREST INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEEL RIVER RECOVERY PROJECT INC: $1,750 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetNorthcoast Environmental Center: $1,750 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFriends of the Lost Coast: $1,500 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetMID KLAMATH WATERSHED COUNCIL: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSalmonid Restoration Federation Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKLAMATH-SISKIYOU WILDLANDS CENTER: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPesticide Action Network North America: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEnvironmental Protection Information Center Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHCOAST MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNORTHWEST CENTER FOR ALTERNATIVES TO PESTICIDES: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE INC: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCornell University: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetXERCES SOCIETY INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE DUNES: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSALMON RIVER RESTORATION COUNCIL: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBird Ally X: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCalifornia Native Plant Society: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONTANA WILDERNESS ASSOCIATION: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN RIVERS INC: $100 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.

PatagoniaorgThe Rose Foundation f…Humboldt Area Foundat…Resources Legacy FundNational Fish and Wil…Vintage Bmw HouseConservation Lands Fo…Firedoll FoundationTarbell Family Founda…Clif Family FoundationMarin Community Found…Network for Good
PatagoniaorgCA26.5× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Patagoniaorg · The Rose Foundation for Communities the Environment · Humboldt Area Foundation · Resources Legacy Fund · National Fish and Wildlife Foundation · Vintage Bmw House · Conservation Lands Foundation · Firedoll Foundation · Tarbell Family Foundation · Clif Family Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · Network for Good

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 Trees Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Trees Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 22%
  • Xerces Society Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
6report 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, FY20–25
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.
04Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Trees Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Trees 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 29 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $141k of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2022, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Trees’ 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