Maryland · Nonprofit
CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC
CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC (Maryland) receives grants from 601 organizations whose IRS filings report $90,111,520 to it, the largest being THE KEITH CAMPBELL FOUNDATION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT INC ($6,706,599). 404 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $35M
- Funders on record
- 601
- Grants received
- $90M
- Net assets
- $122M
What Chesapeake Bay Foundation Inc does
Mission
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation's (CBF) mission, simply stated, is to Save the Bay. See Schedule O for Continuation (page 48)
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Advocacy & RestorationThe Advocacy & Restoration Department's primary objective is to drive significant improvements in the health of Chesapeake Bay as measured by CBF's Bay Health Index. Consistent with the CBF strategic plan, this involves developing and recommending priorities for the organization's policy work, engaging our members and implementing restoration elements of the plan. The Program utilizes a combination of strategies to help achieve a reduction in Bay pollution, restoration of critical habitat, and better-managed fisheries. See Schedule O for Continuation (page 49)
$17,438,557 spentof which $636,869 as grants$568,215 earned by the program58% of program spendingEducation CBF's Education Department is responsible for leading students, teachers, and adults in hands-on, on-the-water, environmental education experiences about the Bay. Through education programs, our professional educators use innovative teaching methods to engage students in real-world issues and scientific inquiry, exciting and encouraging them to take action to protect our natural resources. Student Leadership courses during the summer further train student leaders from high schools across the region. See Schedule O for Continuation (page 49)
$8,720,433 spentof which $31,313 as grants$578,596 earned by the program29% of program spendingMarketing & CommunicationsThe Marketing & Communications Department's charge is to market CBF and its policy agenda, educate and engage the public, and mobilize support for organizational priorities and Bay restoration efforts. Marketing & Communications also manages internal communications and public opinion research. See Schedule O for Continuation (page 50)
$3,697,553 spent$47,622 earned by the program12% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $29,856,543.
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 $137M to $126M (−8%).
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 6% · 2018 5% · 2019 5% · 2020 3% · 2021 4% · 2022 3% · 2023 4% · 2024 6% · 2025 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
77% of CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC’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. 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.
Board chair
Otis S Jones
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021, and between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 178 funders to 280 funders, grant income rose $6.2M → $13M.
54 of 601 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 31% 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 CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 601 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
CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 7% of grant income, and it takes 16 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 16 funders to its left
41% 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 CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 17% · 2018 10% · 2019 12% · 2020 20% · 2021 9% · 2022 9% · 2023 13% — 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
53% of CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC draws 55% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 33 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $28M arriving through sponsors registered in 19 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
CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC is better cushioned than half of the 210 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 210 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $10.6M on record — $5.4M federal, $5.2M state.
- Department of Agriculture$3.9M
- Department of Commerce$1.2M
- Department of the Interior$316k
- Grant$5.2M
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 CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC
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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 28 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC: 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 CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC?
- CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC (Maryland) receives grants from 601 organizations whose IRS filings report $90,111,520 to it, the largest being THE KEITH CAMPBELL FOUNDATION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT INC ($6,706,599). 404 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 601 organizations giving $90,111,520 in grants to CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC, 404 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC?
- THE KEITH CAMPBELL FOUNDATION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $6,706,599 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 601 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