Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY
AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 49 organizations whose IRS filings report $49,508,933 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($12,329,150). 29 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $17M
- Funders on record
- 49
- Grants received
- $50M
- Net assets
- $15M
What American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy does
Mission
Aceee seeks to mobilize and scale up energy efficiency to reduce energy waste and climate pollution, and to do so at substantial economic savings. We seek a vibrant and equitable economy that uses energy more productively, reduces energy costs, and promotes the health, safety, and well-being of all.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Research and outreach - energy efficiency is essential to managing rising energy demand and a key path to a stronger economy and cleaner environment. Our research focuses on the role efficiency can play in the u.s., documenting successful programs and policies and lessons learned, and ways to address challenges. All of our work is grounded in a foundation of equity.
$9,427,243 spentof which $360,000 as grants$2,019,901 earned by the program82% of program spendingConferences - we spark advancements in innovative technologies, policies, and programs by convening thousands of people at our conferences and virtual events each year. We hold roughly 20 webinars annually to discuss our research and related topics. In typical years, we hold 3 -4 conferences on topics such as building and industrial efficiency, hot water and hot air, and energy efficiency as a resource.
$1,722,830 spentof which $11,189 as grants$1,744,537 earned by the program15% of program spendingPolicy advocacy - we help advance efficiency programs and policies by advising agencies on implementation and assisting with development of laws requiring energy-efficient equipment and promoting efficiency in industry, transportation, and new and existing buildings.
$414,280 spent4% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $11,564,353.
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 2020 to 2021, from $12M to $17M (+35%).
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: 2018 0% · 2019 0% · 2020 8% · 2021 8% · 2023 9% · 2024 23% · 2025 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
76% of AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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.
Board chair
Penelope Mclean-Conner
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 19 funders, grant income fell $6.1M → $5.4M.
15 of 49 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 34% 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 AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 49 funders by total. 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
AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
55% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 32% · 2018 46% · 2019 45% · 2020 34% · 2021 38% · 2022 42% · 2023 29% — diversifying over time.
“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.
How long its funders stay
41% of AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY draws 98% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 12 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $17M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 states 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
AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 195 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 195 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $14.1M on record — $14.0M federal, $75k state.
- Department of Energy$13.2M
- Department of Agriculture$595k
- Environmental Protection Agency$191k
- Grant$75k
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 AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY
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 Washington, D.C.
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
82%
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 AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY: 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 AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY?
- AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 49 organizations whose IRS filings report $49,508,933 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($12,329,150). 29 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY have?
- IRS filings report 49 organizations giving $49,508,933 in grants to AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY, 29 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $12,329,150 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT ECONOMY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy →
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 49 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