Illinois · Nonprofit
Alliance for Water Efficiency
Alliance for Water Efficiency (Illinois) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $766,233 to it, the largest being THE SCOTTS MIRACLE-GRO FOUNDATION ($650,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.7M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $766k
- Net assets
- $1.2M
What Alliance for Water Efficiency does
Mission
Alliance for Water Efficiency is dedicated to promoting the efficient and sustainable use of water.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
We are building stronger, more resilient communities, businesses, and ecosystems alongside our members and partners.Our Sustainable Water Vision for 2030 envisions a world where water is properly valued in every form and proactively, efficiently, and sustainably managed throughout its entire cyclefrom the water provider to the tap and back into our waterways.
$1,104,369 spent$635,280 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,104,369.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $285k to $807k (+184%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
59% of Alliance for Water Efficiency’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Ron Burke
President & CEO
Board chair
Karen Guz
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income rose $26k → $130k.
1 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 0% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of Alliance for Water Efficiency’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Alliance for Water Efficiency leans on a few funders — its largest provides 85% of grant income and the top three 97%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 96% · 2020 100% · 2021 76% · 2022 72% · 2023 100% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
Alliance for Water Efficiency draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 5 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $233 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Alliance for Water Efficiency runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 1,074 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,074 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding Alliance for Water Efficiency receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $52k on record.
- MA$44k
- CT$7k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Alliance for Water Efficiency
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
59%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Alliance for Water Efficiency: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Alliance for Water Efficiency?
- Alliance for Water Efficiency (Illinois) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $766,233 to it, the largest being THE SCOTTS MIRACLE-GRO FOUNDATION ($650,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Alliance for Water Efficiency have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $766,233 in grants to Alliance for Water Efficiency, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Alliance for Water Efficiency?
- THE SCOTTS MIRACLE-GRO FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $650,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Alliance for Water Efficiency find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Alliance for Water Efficiency →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 6 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing