New York · Nonprofit
COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC
COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC (New York) receives grants from 166 organizations whose IRS filings report $22,902,933 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF NEW YORK CITY ($4,326,901). 96 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $24M
- Funders on record
- 166
- Grants received
- $23M
- Net assets
- $53M
What Council on the Environment Inc does
Mission
Council on the environment, inc. D/b/a grownyc ("grownyc") empowers all new yorkers to equitably access fresh, locally grown food and neighborhood green spaces, reduce waste, and care for the environment.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Wholesale, which purchases fresh produce and other farm products from northeast regional farms and distributes to food pantries, senior centers, daycares, hospitals, and other institutional buyers. Under this not-for-profit model, farmers get a fair price for their product and program beneficiaries gain reliable access to affordable, nutrient-dense foods. Nearly 80% of the food distributed goes to nutritionally at-risk populations.
$6,545,063 spent$2,998,887 earned by the program41% of program spendingFood access & agriculture, which operates 60 retail food access locations including greenmarkets and farmstands. These locations provide more than 200 small, regional producers with the opportunity to sell their fruits, vegetables, and other farm products to new yorkers. All locations promote and accept snap and other nutrition incentives. The farmer assistance program provides technical and material assistance and training to experienced and beginning farmers to increase long-term viability.
$6,209,111 spentof which $2,750 as grants$6,734,649 earned by the program39% of program spendingGreen space , which creates, rejuvenates, and provides substantial material and technical assistance to several new community gardens each year in addition to helping more than 100 gardens created in prior years; builds rainwater harvesting systems and promotes best practices in green infrastructure through workshops and collaborative installations; and operates a substantial teaching garden on governors island.
$1,022,816 spent$195,883 earned by the program6% of program spendingZero waste, which is currently in a transitional planning period as the organization assesses how best to proceed with future programming. Non-renewal of a city contract resulted in full closure of the former zero waste program as of june 30, 2024.
$248,385 spent2% of program spendingEducation, which connects k-12 public school students to the natural world with an eye towards environmental justice. Students learn sustainable behaviors that last a lifetime through the school gardens program, zero waste schools program, experiential field trips to the teaching garden at governors island, greenmarket tours, and in-class curriculum. Additionally, professional development for teachers and easily accessible digital resources provide education for all ages. Young adults engage in summer workforce development internships, rotating through grownyc's programs to gain a deeper understanding of food systems and green careers. Non-renewal of a city contract resulted in full closure of the former zero waste schools educational program as of june 30, 2024. However, new city funds were awarded in fiscal year 2025 to support the city's curbside organic waste collection initiative through outreach and education of large residential building managers and tenants.
$1,020,003 spentof which $1,750 as grants$42,034 earned by the program6% of program spendingProject farmhouse, which allows all new yorkers to explore environmental issues through the lens of food, horticulture, arts, recycling, cooking, and community education. Located at 76 east 13th street in manhattan, project farmhouse is a state-of-the-art sustainability and education center, and a home for dynamic programming.
$112,768 spent$45,305 earned by the program1% of program spendingNew york state regional food hub, a newly constructed warehouse facility in the hunts point section of the bronx which includes approx. 60,000 square feet of refrigerated/freezer and food processing space and will serve as a new home for the organization's extant wholesale distribution program in addition to other tenants. The formal ground-breaking for construction occurred in march 2021. The building was substantially complete in april 2025 and ready for intended use under a temporary certificate of occupancy.
$653,001 spent$293,971 earned by the program4% of program spending
The 7 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $15,811,147.
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 2020 to 2021, from $14M to $42M (+191%).
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 33% · 2018 38% · 2019 35% · 2020 31% · 2021 37% · 2022 66% · 2023 52% · 2024 31% · 2025 24%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
56% of COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT 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. 0 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
Marcel Van Ooyen
President/CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 23 funders to 75 funders, grant income rose $424k → $4.6M.
19 of 166 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 9% 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 COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 166 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
COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
39% 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 COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 24% · 2018 22% · 2019 26% · 2020 21% · 2021 18% · 2022 18% · 2023 33% — growing more concentrated.
“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
48% of COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
66% of COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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
COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC's funding base is broadening — from 23 funders to 75 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 210 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $7.7M on record.
- Department of Agriculture$4.2M
- Department of Commerce$2.5M
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$1.0M
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 COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT 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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
74% 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
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- New York State Regional Food Hub LLC · disregarded
- Food Hub Qalicb Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT 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 COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC?
- COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC (New York) receives grants from 166 organizations whose IRS filings report $22,902,933 to it, the largest being UNITED WAY OF NEW YORK CITY ($4,326,901). 96 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC have?
- IRS filings report 166 organizations giving $22,902,933 in grants to COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC, 96 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC?
- UNITED WAY OF NEW YORK CITY is the largest funder on record, with $4,326,901 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 166 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