California · Nonprofit
CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE
CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE (California) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,066,616 to it, the largest being The Elizabeth R & William J Patterson Foundation ($900,000). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.1M
- Funders on record
- 39
- Grants received
- $5.1M
- Net assets
- $498k
What Carbon Cycle Institute does
Mission
The Carbon Cycle Institute's mission is to stop and reverse global warming by advancing natural, science-based solutions that remove atmospheric carbon while promoting environmental stewardship, social equity and economic sustainability.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The Carbon Cycle Institute has been developing a model framework for land management that emphasizes the carbon cycle as its organizing principle. Land management within this framework leads to enhanced rates of carbon capture from the atmosphere, increases the provision of important ecosystem services (especially water), and mitigates climate change. The framework relies on sound policies, public-private partnerships, quantification methodologies (COMET-Planner and COMET-Farm), and innovative financing mechanisms that ultimately empower local organizations to efficiently implement on-the-ground time tested, science-verified solutions. In addition to our advancement of effective carbon cycle solutions, CCI works continuously to deliver training and educational programs that foster carbon literacy among farmers and ranchers, technical service providers, conservation agencies and organizations, and policy makers; and proactively supports community and national policies that promote carbon stewardship.
$1,130,386 spent$4,268 earned by the program100% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,130,386.
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 2021 to 2022, from $511k to $681k (+33%).
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% · 2020 0% · 2021 10% · 2023 0% · 2024 27%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 6 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
Torri Estrada
Executive Director
Board chair
Richard Schorske
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 14 funders, grant income rose $202k → $948k.
9 of 39 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 24% 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 CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 39 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
CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% 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
42% 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 CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 32% · 2019 28% · 2020 34% · 2021 13% · 2022 40% · 2023 32% — 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
33% of CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% 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 CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE is better cushioned than half of the 482 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 482 science & tech nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $60k on record.
- Department of the Interior$60k
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 CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE
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
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE: 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 CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE?
- CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE (California) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,066,616 to it, the largest being The Elizabeth R & William J Patterson Foundation ($900,000). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 39 organizations giving $5,066,616 in grants to CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE, 18 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE?
- The Elizabeth R & William J Patterson Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $900,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE 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.
Play a game about who funds Carbon Cycle Institute →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 39 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