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California · Public charity

Water Foundation

The WATER FOUNDATION and our partners advance lasting solutions to secure safe water for people, restore and sustain freshwater ecosystems, and build climate resilience.

$9.3M
Granted FY2024(still arriving)
88
Itemized grants FY2024
101
Organizations funded FY2023
41%
First-time grantees FY2023
Read the full brief
Itemized, FY2024
$9.1M
The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
Median grant, FY2024
$50,000
Largest grant, FY2024
$1,048,904
Organizations funded a year
41 to 101
FY2017 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024
18
Total assets, FY2024
$39M

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 41% of the organizations Water Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 50% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 50% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6.7M went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23
EnvironmentHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementEducationCivil RightsArts & 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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2024still arriving85$8.9M25%
FY2023101$13M41%
FY202267$7.9M19%
FY202182$5.1M24%
FY202079$5.7M30%
FY201965$5.5M43%
FY201868$6.3M62%
FY201741$4.5Mn/a
100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$58MHousing & Shelter$705kHealth$354kPublic Benefit$80kFood & Nutrition$40kArts & Culture$10k

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
VT
WA
ID
MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
IA
OH
PA
CA
UT
CO
KY
VA
NM
AR
NC
SC
DC
LA
AL
TX
FL

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Community Water Center$2,466,700811%
Trout Unlimited Inc$2,446,60081%
American Rivers Inc$2,023,91582%
Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated$1,808,70080%
Anthropocene Alliance$1,326,675433%
Natural Resources Defense Council Inc$1,294,50060%
Community Alliance With Family Farmers$1,270,12258%
California Water Data Consortium$1,254,500468%
Sustainable Conservation$1,186,27569%
Policylink$1,181,40042%
Show all 230 grantees
All grantees of Water Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Community Water Center$2,466,700811%
Trout Unlimited Inc$2,446,60081%
American Rivers Inc$2,023,91582%
Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated$1,808,70080%
Anthropocene Alliance$1,326,675433%
Natural Resources Defense Council Inc$1,294,50060%
Community Alliance With Family Farmers$1,270,12258%
California Water Data Consortium$1,254,500468%
Sustainable Conservation$1,186,27569%
Policylink$1,181,40042%
National Audubon Society Inc$1,116,80980%
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability$964,77577%
Clean Water Fund$950,50064%
California Trout Inc$870,00082%
National Wildlife Federation$860,80040%
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Inc$840,00045%
River Partners$824,32172%
US Water Alliance$790,70065%
Headwaters Economics Inc$705,300316%
Self-Help Enterprises$705,00060%
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission$635,0003n/a
American Flood Coalition Inc$600,00019%
Western States Water Council$595,0002n/a
The Freshwater Trust$575,00052%
Water Wise Gulf South$575,000155%
California Environmental Voters$569,92079%
River Network$550,18759%
Treepeople Inc$521,00082%
Water Finance Exchange Inc$520,00029%
Tides Advocacy$520,00050%
Bayou City Waterkeeper Inc$515,000235%
Native Americans in Philanthropy$500,00014%
Community Partners$493,57141%
Heal the Bay$493,50083%
Regents of the University of California at Berkeley$485,9945n/a
Community Water Center Action Fund$460,000566%
Rural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated$450,00021%
Pacific Institute for Studies in Development Environment & Security$438,00054%
Ag Innovations Network$435,432721%
Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians$425,000211%
California Coastkeeper dba California Coastkeeper Alliance$420,000540%
Amigos Bravos Inc$408,357614%
We the People of Detroit$400,000318%
Nez Perce Tribe$395,0003n/a
Civicwell$357,66861%
Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy$354,27162%
Hill Country Alliance$348,000212%
Los Angeles Waterkeeper$345,75074%
Clean Water Fund$340,0002n/a
Physicians for Social Responsibility$327,90075%
East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice$320,10055%
New Mexico Wilderness Alliance$320,00064%
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc$320,00070%
Communities Unlimited Inc$315,00012%
Board of Regents Nevada System of Higher Education$307,8421n/a
Multiplier$305,09051%
Western States Water Council$305,0001n/a
The Sand County Foundation Inc$300,00014%
Western Resource Advocates$300,00061%
BlueGreen Alliance Foundation$300,00013%
Groundwork Ohio River Valley Inc$300,000120%
Nature for All$288,500423%
Tuolumne River Preservation Trust dba Yosemite Rivers Alliance$288,13359%
Comite Civico del Valle Inc$280,00046%
Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans$275,000213%
Save Our Wild Salmon$265,000523%
Friends of the Chicago River$263,000112%
Washington Conservation Action$251,49055%
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy$250,00010%
Environmental Protection Network$250,00024%
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation$235,0001n/a
Alianza Coachella Valley$235,00043%
Public Policy Institute of California$232,00080%
Council for Watershed Health$227,90063%
Sierra Club Foundation$225,00070%
Texas Water Foundation$219,000214%
Great Basin Water Network Inc$210,000237%
Rgisc Inc$200,000113%
Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network Inc$200,000120%
Center for Rural Affairs$200,00013%
Sound Rivers Inc$200,000115%
Urban Sustainability Directors Network$200,00011%
Wisconsin Wetlands Association Inc$196,000120%
Cahaba Riverkeeper Inc$195,000143%
Conservation Voters New Mexico$195,00054%
Strategic Concepts In Organizing & Policy Education$195,00052%
Elevate Energy$176,40020%
Sierra Health Foundation Center for Health Program Management$175,90040%
Defenders of Wildlife$175,00040%
Western Environmental Law Center$165,00051%
Columbia Riverkeeper$162,00052%
Ceres Inc$160,00030%
Appalachian Citizens Law Center Inc$151,300212%
Texas Water Development Board$150,0001n/a
California Farm Bureau Federation$150,00020%
Native American Rights Fund Inc$150,00011%
Lowcountry Alliance for Model Communitie$150,000142%
The Association of State Wetland Managers Inc$150,000113%
New Mexico Tech Foundation$150,00023%
Regents Univ of California$146,6003n/a
Center for Neighborhood Technology$145,00013%
Nw Energy Coalition$145,00054%
Bayorg$143,00021%
Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association$140,000516%
New Mexico Acequia Association$140,00036%
Communities for a Better Environment$136,65041%
Plaza Community Center Inc Dba Plaza Community Services$130,00011%
Michigan League of Conservation Voters Education Fund$130,00032%
Children of the Setting Sun Product$125,00043%
The Pew Charitable Trusts$125,00030%
Rural Community Assistance Corporation$120,0001n/a
Se Si Le$120,000318%
University of California Davis$115,7173n/a
River in Action$112,3213n/a
California Public Interest Research Group Edu Fund$110,000246%
Pacoima Beautiful$108,57151%
Resource Media$102,00022%
Earthjustice$100,00010%
Texas State University Development Foundation$100,00011%
Blue Forest Finance Inc$100,00011%
Rio Grande Return$100,00015%
Wild Salmon Center$100,00011%
Milwaukee Water Commons Inc$100,00017%
Idaho Wildlife Federation$100,000313%
Taking Care of Texas$95,00022%
Proyecto Pastoral$91,70041%
Prairie Rivers of Iowa Resource Conservation And$90,808130%
Riverkeeper Inc$90,00021%
Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District$85,0001n/a
Conservation Voters for Idaho Inc$85,00038%
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group$85,00021%
Regents of the University of California at Irvine$80,0001n/a
Center for Civic Policy$80,00013%
Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program$77,50025%
California Indian Environmental Alliance$75,00017%
Community Advocates Inc$75,00010%
University of Vermont and State Agricultural College$74,9141n/a
Earth Ministry$72,421312%
Occidental College$70,00010%
Ducks Unlimited Inc$69,33620%
Los Angeles County Business Federation$65,0001n/a
The Commonwealth Club - World Affairs of California$60,00020%
Deep South Center for Environmental$60,00012%
The National Judicial College$60,00021%
Temple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education$59,98010%
Daily Acts Organization$52,50025%
Gente Organizada$50,00015%
Save The Bay$50,00012%
Spur - San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association$50,00011%
Willowbrook Inclusion Network$50,000115%
Koreatown Youth and Community Center$50,00011%
Community Initiatives$50,00010%
Resources Legacy Fund$50,00010%
Telele Foundation$50,000216%
Klamath Riverkeeper$50,000139%
Environmental Advocates Ny Inc$50,00012%
Maderachowchilla Resource Conservation District$50,0002n/a
Wisconsin Association for Talented and Gifted$50,000161%
Northern California Water Association$50,00011%
National Caucus of Environmental Legislators$50,00014%
Little Snake River Conservation District$50,0001n/a
Special Service for Groups Inc$50,00020%
Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition$50,00019%
Idaho Conservation League Inc$50,00012%
Tataviam Land Conservancy$50,000135%
Texas Southern University Foundatio$50,00010%
Community Repower Movement Inc$50,0002n/a
The Earth Genome$50,00014%
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water$50,00018%
Go AustinVamos Austin$50,00012%
Save California Salmon$50,00015%
Groundwater Resources Association of California$44,86034%
The Digdeep Right to Water Project$40,00012%
Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies$40,00012%
University of Minnesota$40,0001n/a
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices$40,00010%
Institute for Policy Studies$40,00011%
Imagine H2O Inc$40,00013%
Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project$40,00029%
United Community Foundation$35,0002n/a
Climate Resolve$35,00013%
Guardianorg Foundation$30,00011%
Clark Fork Coalition$30,00011%
Not an Alternative Inc$30,00014%
Active San Gabriel Valley$30,00020%
Progressnow New Mexico$30,000112%
Institute for Nonprofit News$30,00010%
Progressive State Leaders Committee Inc$30,00011%
Community Conservation Solutions$30,00012%
Contina Impact$29,59414%
Los Angeles Conservation Corps$27,14230%
North Fork Mono Tribe$25,00015%
Farmworkers Institute Educational Leadership$25,00010%
Consejo de Federaciones Mexicanas En Norte America$25,00014%
Hispanic Access Foundation$25,00011%
Tule Basin Land & Water Conservation Trust$25,00015%
The Aspen Institute Inc$25,00010%
Golden State Salmon Association Inc$25,00018%
Conservation Voters for Idaho Education Fund Inc$25,00014%
Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment$25,00015%
Southeast Community Development Corporation$25,0001n/a
San Diego Coastkeeper$25,00013%
Stockholm Environment Institute US Inc$25,00010%
Coro Northern California Inc$25,00011%
PCL Foundation$20,00015%
Southwest Organizing Project$20,00011%
Tewa Women United$20,00010%
The Center for Water Security and Cooperation$20,000114%
Texas Water Trade$20,00020%
Community Hiking Club$18,5712n/a
Texas Water Journal$15,7702n/a
Healthy Gulf$15,00011%
Kounkuey Design Initiative Inc$15,00010%
Centro Por la Justicia$15,00011%
Greater Hells Canyon Council$15,00015%
West Street Recovery$15,00011%
Sustainable Northwest$15,00010%
The River Project$15,00017%
Carpe Diem West$10,0001n/a
Equal Justice Works$10,00010%
Pacific Rivers$10,00013%
Magnum Cultural Foundation$10,00011%
Galveston Bay Foundation Inc$10,00010%
Safe Clean Water for la County Yes on Measure W$10,0001n/a
Texas 2036$10,00010%
Economic Development Corporation of la County$9,5001n/a
Cuyama Valley Family Resource Center$8,36115%
Sustainable Solano Inc$7,50011%
La Voice$7,5001n/a
Blue Earth Alliance$7,00014%

Where it is load-bearing

Water Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 14 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 200 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCommunity Water Center: $2,466,700 over 8y, 11% of budgetTrout Unlimited Inc: $2,446,600 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetAmerican Rivers Inc: $2,023,915 over 8y, 2.2% of budgetEnvironmental Defense Fund Incorporated: $1,808,700 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetAnthropocene Alliance: $1,326,675 over 4y, 33% of budgetNatural Resources Defense Council Inc: $1,294,500 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCommunity Alliance With Family Farmers: $1,270,122 over 5y, 8.4% of budgetCalifornia Water Data Consortium: $1,254,500 over 4y, 68% of budgetSustainable Conservation: $1,186,275 over 6y, 8.6% of budgetPolicylink: $1,181,400 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetNational Audubon Society Inc: $1,116,809 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetLeadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability: $964,775 over 7y, 7.4% of budgetClean Water Fund: $950,500 over 6y, 3.9% of budgetCalifornia Trout Inc: $870,000 over 8y, 2.4% of budgetNational Wildlife Federation: $860,800 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTheodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership Inc: $840,000 over 4y, 5.4% of budgetRiver Partners: $824,321 over 7y, 1.9% of budgetUS Water Alliance: $790,700 over 6y, 4.5% of budgetHeadwaters Economics Inc: $705,300 over 3y, 16% of budgetSelf-Help Enterprises: $705,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetAmerican Flood Coalition Inc: $600,000 over 1y, 9.4% of budgetThe Freshwater Trust: $575,000 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetWater Wise Gulf South: $575,000 over 1y, 55% of budgetCalifornia Environmental Voters: $569,920 over 7y, 9.4% of budgetRiver Network: $550,187 over 5y, 9.2% of budgetTreepeople Inc: $521,000 over 8y, 2.3% of budgetWater Finance Exchange Inc: $520,000 over 2y, 8.6% of budgetTides Advocacy: $520,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetBayou City Waterkeeper Inc: $515,000 over 2y, 35% of budgetNative Americans in Philanthropy: $500,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetCommunity Partners: $493,571 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetHeal the Bay: $493,500 over 8y, 3.0% of budgetCommunity Water Center Action Fund: $460,000 over 5y, 66% of budgetRural Community Assistance Partnership Incorporated: $450,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetPacific Institute for Studies in Development Environment & Security: $438,000 over 5y, 3.9% of budgetAg Innovations Network: $435,432 over 7y, 21% of budgetAffiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians: $425,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetCalifornia Coastkeeper dba California Coastkeeper Alliance: $420,000 over 5y, 40% of budgetAmigos Bravos Inc: $408,357 over 6y, 14% of budgetWe the People of Detroit: $400,000 over 3y, 18% of budgetCivicwell: $357,668 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetLos Angeles Alliance for a New Economy: $354,271 over 6y, 1.9% of budgetHill Country Alliance: $348,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetLos Angeles Waterkeeper: $345,750 over 7y, 3.9% of budgetPhysicians for Social Responsibility: $327,900 over 7y, 5.5% of budgetEast Yard Communities for Environmental Justice: $320,100 over 5y, 5.0% of budgetNew Mexico Wilderness Alliance: $320,000 over 6y, 4.3% of budgetThe Union of Concerned Scientists Inc: $320,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 200.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

Resources Legacy FundCA99.4× affinity56 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Resources Legacy Fund · Windward Fund · Patagoniaorg · The Schmidt Family Foundation · Natural Resources Defense Council Inc · United States Energy Foundation · The Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation · The California Endowment · Liberty Hill Foundation · Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment 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.

Compare Water Foundation with peer funders

About Water Foundation

How much does Water Foundation give?
Water Foundation reported 88 itemized grants totaling $9,108,621, out of $9,322,367 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 41 and 101 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
What does Water Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Environment (98%), Housing & Shelter (1%), Health (1%).
Who are Water Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: Community Water Center ($2.5M), Trout Unlimited Inc ($2.4M), American Rivers Inc ($2.0M).
Does Water Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2023, 41% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Which funders back the same organizations as Water Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Resources Legacy Fund, Windward Fund, Patagoniaorg.
Where is Water Foundation based?
Water Foundation is based in CA.

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 239 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

Play a game based on Water’s filings →

More from the funding graph