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Plinth

· Public charity

Urban Sustainability Directors Network

To connect local government leaders in the united states, canada and abroad to accelerate sustainability practices.

$5.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
18
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20192024.

Environment$1.7MPublic Benefit$550kCommunity Improvement$519kHousing & Shelter$314kPhilanthropy$300kPublic Safety & Disaster$129kCivil Rights$40kYouth Development$15kOther$0
02FY2024 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 18 grants below total $362,074 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $5,088,085 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $4,726,011 is giving the schedule does not break out: grants under the $5,000 itemisation floor, grants to individuals, and grants reported on other schedules. Every figure below describes the itemised rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $6k
  • $10k–50k16 grants · $256k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$15,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$17M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CITY OF AMSTERDAM$100,000
CITY OF BALITMORE$26,000
COUNTY OF LOUISVILLE$20,000
CITY OF GREEN BAY$19,450
COUNTY OF ALAMEDA$19,300
CITY OF SHORELINE$15,000
CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO$15,000
COASTAL QUEST$15,000
CITY OF BERKELEY$15,000
CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS$15,000
KING COUNTY$15,000
CITY OF SANTA CRUZ$15,000
CITY OF CINCINNATI$15,000
CITY OF PORTLAND$14,920
CITY OF OAKLAND$14,404
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY23–23, $14k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%BURLINGTON BICYCLE: $14k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

AK
VT
WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
OR
NV
IA
IN
OH
PA
CA
UT
CO
KY
VA
MD
AZ
TN
NC
DC
GA
TX
FL

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

04

Where the work is directed

The same grants, placed two ways — where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose earmarks the money.

About 23% of Urban Sustainability Directors Network’s grant dollars are earmarked, by their stated purpose, for a different county than the recipient’s own address — money that lands at a nonprofit in one place but is meant to do its work in another.

Urban Sustainability Directors Networklessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address

Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the foundation’s own 990 grant descriptions.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

29%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$1.0M · 8 repeat orgs$2.6M to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +21% since the first grant, against -1% for the ones you funded once.

8 repeat relationships — 3 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 15 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
41

Total granted

$1.0M
$2.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+21%
-1%

Still filing today

38%
24%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 10% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $325k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentCommunity ImprovementEducationCrime & LegalHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • SU
    Solar United Neighbors Inc
    2× · 2022–2023 · $295k · revenue +123%
  • SF
    SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
    2× · 2022–2023 · $200k
  • R
    RHEAPLY
    2× · 2021–2023 · $174k

Funded once

  • CO
    CITY OF MIAMI
    one grant, 2020 · $600k
  • UC
    UTAH CLEAN ENERGY ALLIANCE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $325k · revenue +52%
  • CO
    CITY OF DURHAM
    one grant, 2020 · $150k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Clean Energy Transition Institute

The Clean Energy Transition Institute (CETI) is an independent, nonpartisan research and analysis nonprofit whose mission is to accelerate an equitable clean energy transition in the Northwest.

Education
2
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
3
Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies

CEERT designs and fights for policies that advance clean, renewable, energy and climate solutions for California and the West. CEERT's team of professional staff, active board members, expert consultants, and clean-technology and…

Environment
4
Climate Access Fund Corporation

The Climate Access Fund develops and finances community solar products that serve low to moderate income households

Environment
5
Cascade Climate Inc

To accelerate progress in interventions that harness Earths natural systems to stabilize the climate.

Environment
6
Spark Northwest

Founded in 2001, Spark Northwest accelerates the just transition to clean energy in the Pacific Northwest. Spark Northwest uses two primary strategies: (1) on-the-ground project consulting, focusing on communities with limited financial…

Environment
7
All in Energy Inc

All In Energy is a nonprofit organization that enables underserved residents (historically renters, low-to-moderate income households, people who speak languages other than English, and people of color) to save money on their utility bills…

Environment
8
Transformca dba Transform

Transform works to ensure that people of all incomes thrive in a world safe from climate chaos.

Community Improvement
9
Act Institute Inc

ACT Institute leads the just, equitable and rapid transition to a clean energy future and diverse climate economy.

Environment
10
Alliance for Climate Transition Inc

ACT leads the just, equitable and rapid transition to a clean energy future and diverse climate economy.

Community Improvement
11
Nextenergy Center

To enable the commercialization of energy technologies that positively contribute to economic competitiveness, energy security, and the environment.

Environment
12
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…

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Utah Clean Energy Alliance Inc and the most unlike its peers is Ceti. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

05the grantee network

14 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 14 of the 64 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/14
Grantees still filing
7/14
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

CITY OF MIAMI — $600,000 · OtherCITY OF MIAMISAN FRANCISCO COUNTY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY — $200,000 · OtherSAN FRANCISCO COUNTY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITYRHEAPLY — $174,000 · OtherRHEAPLYCITY OF DURHAM — $150,000 · OtherCITY OF DURHAMDC PUBLIC SCHOOLS — $100,000 · OtherCHUGACH ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION INC — $100,000 · OtherCITY OF AMSTERDAM — $100,000 · Other+44 more — $1,153,647 · Other+44 moreUTAH CLEAN ENERGY ALLIANCE INC — $325,000 · EnvironmentUTAH CLEAN ENERGY ALLIANCE …Solar United Neighbors Inc — $295,000 · EnvironmentSolar United Neighbors IncSOUTHFACE ENERGY INSTITUTE INC — $155,300 · EnvironmentSOUTHFACE ENERGY INSTITUTE …Elevate Energy — $69,000 · EnvironmentElevate EnergyCoastal Quest — $30,000 · Environment+1 more — $15,000 · EnvironmentBayview-Hunters Point Center for Arts and Technology DBA BAYCAT — $40,000 · Community ImprovementPHILADELPHIA CITY FUND INC — $15,000 · Community ImprovementCETI — $20,000 · EducationSAFE STREETS CAMPAIGN — $20,000 · Crime & LegalBOOKER T WASHINGTON COMMUNITY SERVICE CENTER — $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentBURLINGTON BICYCLE PROJECT CORP — $13,750 · Human ServicesAnchorage Neighborhood Housing Services Inc — $11,992 · Housing & Shelter
Other$2,577,647Environment$889,300Community Improvement$55,000Education$20,000Crime & Legal$20,000Youth Development$15,000Human Services$13,750Housing & Shelter$11,992

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetUTAH CLEAN ENERGY ALLIANCE INC — $325,000 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetSolar United Neighbors Inc — $295,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetSOUTHFACE ENERGY INSTITUTE INC — $155,300 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetCHUGACH ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION INC — $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetElevate Energy — $69,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBayview-Hunters Point Center for Arts and Technology DBA BAYCAT — $40,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCoastal Quest — $30,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetCETI — $20,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetSAFE STREETS CAMPAIGN — $20,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetRESILIENCE NETWORK — $15,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetPHILADELPHIA CITY FUND INC — $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBOOKER T WASHINGTON COMMUNITY SERVICE CENTER — $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBURLINGTON BICYCLE PROJECT CORP — $13,750 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetAnchorage Neighborhood Housing Services Inc — $11,992 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds UTAH CLEAN ENERGY ALLIANCE INC
  • Who funds Solar United Neighbors Inc
  • Who funds SOUTHFACE ENERGY INSTITUTE INC
  • Who funds CHUGACH ELECTRIC ASSOCIATION INC
  • Who funds Elevate Energy
  • Who funds Bayview-Hunters Point Center for Arts and Technology DBA BAYCAT
  • Who funds Coastal Quest
  • Who funds CETI
  • Who funds SAFE STREETS CAMPAIGN

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

National League of Cities Institute IncDC39.5× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National League of Cities Institute Inc · Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund Inc · National Recreation and Park Association · AARP · The Recycling Partnership Inc · Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation Inc · Center for Technology and Civic Life · The Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc · National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States · FitLot · US Green Building Council Inc · Global Philanthropy Partnership

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Urban Sustainability Directors Network funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 10%2%6%14%25%your share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 3%
  • Ceti3% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
typical government reliance, FY2025

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 64 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph