California · Nonprofit
CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION
CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 253 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,890,580 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,894,391). 153 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $11M
- Funders on record
- 253
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $19M
What California State Parks Foundation does
Mission
California State Parks Foundation is an independent, member-supported nonprofit dedicated to protecting and preserving the california state park system for the benefit of all.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Access and experiences: while california state parks are public spaces, many people cannot access or experience them. Barriers to park access include lack of transportation, cost of visiting, lack of awareness of parks or the activities they offer, closures, and more. Though we are working to reduce these barriers, this is just the beginning of the effort to ensure that every californian feels welcome in and can enjoy state parks. This fiscal year we provided grants directly to parks and park partners via our park improvement and trails for all grants, grants for park participation in california state parks week, and for maintenance at silver strand state beach and chino hills state park.
$998,387 spentof which $529,425 as grants18% of program spendingCalifornia State Parks Foundation's park stewardship program organizes volunteer workdays year-round to protect and preserve state parks across california by addressing climate change and demands on natural resources. In partnership with california state parks, our program generates high-quality workday service projects to attend to unmet needs and engage californians with their local parks, including signature earth day climate action workday events in april. By expanding park staff's capacity, volunteers help overcome resource constraints and carry out essential tasks such as trail maintenance, habitat restoration, planting, and more. Their involvement fosters community engagement and connection, spreading awareness and inspiring others to appreciate and protect these natural and cultural treasures. Overall, our volunteer activity provided 11,041 hours of service equating to 9,695 native plants installed, 2.94 miles of trail restored, 532 feet of fencing repaired, 13,800 square feet of fire buffer zones created, and over 110 bags of trash and recycling collected. Our earth day climate action 2025 granted a total of $52,943 to 12 state parks and park partners to support…
$984,512 spentof which $52,944 as grants17% of program spendingClimate resilience: we are using the best available science and research to learn deeply about climate threats and solutions, educate californians and the legislature, inspire people to take action, and ultimately influence policy and legislation that prioritizes the communities most impacted by climate change. This fiscal year we provided grants directly to parks and park partners for wildfire resiliency, habitat conservation, monarch conservation, and to ano nuevo state park docent program. In addition, we helped support will rogers state historic park during their recovery from the palisades fire in january 2025 through purchase of needed equipment, supplies, and materials as in-kind gifts to the california department of parks and recreation.
$574,887 spentof which $191,654 as grants10% of program spendingThe California State Parks Foundation is a supporter of nonprofit organizations and local governments who partner with california state parks in their area across the state. The foundation made services available to these group, including fundraising, fiscal sponsorship, capacity-building and other key elements of organization management. The foundation also provides ongoing support for operations and maintenance for several other parks throughout the year.
$3,138,034 spentof which $65,151 as grants55% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,695,820.
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 2022 to 2023, from $16M to $18M (+12%).
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: 2017 0% · 2018 9% · 2019 1% · 2020 8% · 2021 13% · 2022 12% · 2023 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
93% of CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (11% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Rachel Norton
Executive director
Board chair
Diane Ross-Leech
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 71 funders to 94 funders, grant income rose $936k → $1.4M.
34 of 253 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 71% 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 CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 253 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
CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
75% 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 CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 53% · 2018 53% · 2019 17% · 2020 14% · 2021 15% · 2022 18% · 2023 23% — 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
43% of CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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
71% of CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $3.4M that is directly attributable, 71% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $8.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 15 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
CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 184 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 184 recreation & sports nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $10k on record.
- Department of the Interior$10k
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 CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
67% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
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 CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION: 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 CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION?
- CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 253 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,890,580 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,894,391). 153 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 253 organizations giving $11,890,580 in grants to CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION, 153 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $1,894,391 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
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 253 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing