Colorado · Nonprofit
COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION
COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION (Colorado) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $693,465 to it, the largest being Walton Family Foundation Inc ($282,500). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $878k
- Funders on record
- 18
- Grants received
- $693k
- Net assets
- $391k
What Colo Foundation for Water Education does
Mission
Water education colorado ensures coloradans are informed on water issues and equipped to make decisions that guide our state to a sustainable water future.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Water education colorado's publications and news service are integral to keeping coloradans informed. These trusted, timely and policy-neutral resources reach elected officials, water sector leaders, educators and community members. ------------------------- see schedule o -------------------------------
$286,353 spent40% of program spendingOur education and outreach programs include tours, webinars, workshops, the annual sustaining colorado watersheds conference, and leadership for the statewide water educator network, as well as a variety of public awareness-building activities to cultivate a connected and engaged network of informed decision makers, constituents and practitioners. ------------------------- see schedule o -------------------------------
$332,732 spent$51,666 earned by the program46% of program spendingOur leadership programs, water leaders and water fluency, equip leaders with the confidence and skills to navigate the complex world of colorado water and advance collaborative solutions. ------------------------- see schedule o -------------------------------
$97,821 spent$123,509 earned by the program14% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $716,906.
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 2017 to 2018, from $215k to $503k (+134%).
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 29% · 2018 20% · 2019 32% · 2020 34% · 2021 17% · 2022 30% · 2023 37% · 2024 25% · 2025 21%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
82% of COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION’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. 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $7k → $58k.
6 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 50% 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 COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION’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
COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 72%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
50% 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 COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 77% · 2018 100% · 2019 91% · 2020 79% · 2021 44% · 2022 80% · 2023 69% — 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
50% of COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 44% 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
COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION draws 83% of its grant income from funders outside Colorado, across 7 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $346k 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
COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION's funding base is broadening — from 3 funders to 7 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,433 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION
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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION: 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 COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION?
- COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION (Colorado) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $693,465 to it, the largest being Walton Family Foundation Inc ($282,500). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION have?
- IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $693,465 in grants to COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION?
- Walton Family Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $282,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like COLO FOUNDATION FOR WATER EDUCATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. 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 Colo Foundation for Water Education →
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 18 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