Massachusetts · Nonprofit
CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC
CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 255 organizations whose IRS filings report $81,946,224 to it, the largest being BARR FOUNDATION ($15,680,650). 171 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $24M
- Funders on record
- 255
- Grants received
- $82M
- Net assets
- $44M
What Conservation Law Foundation Inc does
Mission
Conservation law foundation, inc. (clf) protects new england's environment for the benefit of all people and future generations. We use the law, science, and markets to create solutions that preserve and restore our natural resources, build healthy and resilient communities, and sustain a vibrant economy.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Clean energy & climate change: clf is tackling the root causes of the climate crisis and pushing clean energy solutions at the state and regional levels. We must collectively cut climate-damaging emissions to net-zero by 2050 and transition our economy to one run on clean-renewable energy - while ensuring that no new englander is left behind. Today, clf is fighting for laws that will end our region's addiction to fossil fuels for good; pushing for economy-wide change through policies and projects that boost low-cost local clean energy, save families and businesses money, and create good-paying jobs; stopping unnecessary new gas infrastructure and pushing for concrete utility-scale plans to phase gas out before it can sink our region's climate goals; and making sure our communities can bounce back from the climate fallout we can no longer avoid - so new englanders can not only survive but thrive in a changing climate.
$4,521,536 spent$2,000 earned by the program19% of program spendingHealthy & resilient communities: for 50 years clf has fought to create healthy communities for people across new england. It is how we made our name: returning a clean boston harbor to the people and connecting more of us to reliable public transportation. Creating healthy communities that are resilient in the face of climate impacts means putting people and their well-being at the center of our work. That's why we help to create affordable neighborhood housing developments close to open space, healthy food, and public transit. It's why we push for a strong, local food economy regionwide. And it's why we work to make sure people and communities can bounce back from the extreme weather climate change is already bringing to our neighborhoods. Resilience to extreme heat and flooding, safety from hazards like lead and mold, affordable and stable housing, access to healthy and budget-friendly food - these factors and more affect individual health. Collectively, they can add up to greater burdens community-wide, furthering the structural injustices and inequities facing communities of color and people from lower-income neighborhoods. Clf is working to change that script, building on our…
$3,784,639 spentof which $7,500 as grants$1,820 earned by the program16% of program spendingOcean conservation: the ocean plays an integral role in new englanders' lives, our economy, and our communities. However, pollution, overfishing, habitat loss, and climate change threaten its health and our future. Clf has safeguarded new england's ocean for decades - from blocking oil and gas drilling on georges bank, to curbing overfishing, to pioneering smart ocean planning across the region. We fight for a clean, healthy, and productive ocean to ensure that endangered right whales can recover from the brink of extinction, our waters can once again abound with cod and our fisheries flourish, and our most fragile habitats are protected to ensure our waters remain healthy and vibrant for generations to come.
$1,855,613 spent$270,000 earned by the program8% of program spendingOther programs include the following:litigation: even the strongest environmental laws are toothless until they are enforced, making clf's role as a legal watchdog critical. Pollution from industrial facilities damages our already compromised waterways. Violators of our clean air laws spew hazardous fumes that contribute to asthma and other respiratory diseases. Some of the country's biggest oil companies have engaged in climate neglect that puts our communities and waterways at risk. Clf protects our communities by holding these polluters accountable and pushing for the enforcement of our environmental laws at the local, state, and federal levels. For many of our cases, when clf wins or settles a suit, we hold polluters accountable in a unique way. They fund a supplemental environmental project, or sep, that provides money for valuable protection and restoration projects in the local community damaged by the violation.environmental justice: for more than 50 years, clf has fought to create healthy communities for people across new england. But the reality is that pollution, climate impacts, and other environmental burdens fall harder on limited english proficient residents and…
$13,245,258 spentof which $623,250 as grants$1,148,277 earned by the program57% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $23,407,046.
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 2023 to 2024, from $37M to $54M (+48%).
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: 2021 6% · 2022 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
88% of CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (87% 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.
Board chair
Sara Molyneaux
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 56 funders to 136 funders, grant income rose $5.6M → $17M.
37 of 255 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% 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 CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 255 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
CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
35% 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 CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 33% · 2018 16% · 2019 28% · 2020 24% · 2021 30% · 2022 29% · 2023 21% — 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
59% of CONSERVATION LAW 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
CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC draws 55% of its grant income from funders outside Massachusetts, across 26 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21M arriving through sponsors registered in 18 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
CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC's funding base is broadening — from 56 funders to 136 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 210 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $60 on record.
- Subscriptions$30
- Dues$30
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 CONSERVATION LAW 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
68%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 14 states
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Clf Ventures Inc · exempt
- Environmental Insurance Agency Inc · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CONSERVATION LAW 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 CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC?
- CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 255 organizations whose IRS filings report $81,946,224 to it, the largest being BARR FOUNDATION ($15,680,650). 171 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 255 organizations giving $81,946,224 in grants to CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC, 171 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC?
- BARR FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $15,680,650 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 255 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