Oregon · Nonprofit
CRAG LAW CENTER
CRAG LAW CENTER (Oregon) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,166,774 to it, the largest being THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($1,020,648). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.1M
- Funders on record
- 40
- Grants received
- $5.2M
- Net assets
- $4.0M
What Crag Law Center does
Mission
Providing legal aid to the environment by providing legal services to conservation organizations, community groups, native american tribes, and individuals working to protect and sustain the pacific northwest's natural legacy.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Crag Law Center provides legal services to conservation organizations, community groups & communities working on environmental issues. Over the past 25 years, crag has provided services to over one hundred organizations working in the public interest. Legal services focus on protection of the wild, communities & the climate. These services were provided for free, at below market rates and/or on a contingency basis to the community. Crag services include assistance with bringing litigation in state & federal courts, with mediation & settlement of complex natural resource disputes, & with public education. Crag also provides legal assistance in non-profit formation, management & outreach for non-profits working in the public interest. Crag also works with other non-profit organizations to hold public events including screenings of films that address various environmental issues. These events help to educate communities about environmental issues & the legal tools that can be used to address these issues. Crag's 2025 cases litigated or in litigation were where fees were recovered: (1) greater hells canyon council et al - eastside screens. Represent conservation organizations…
$375,549 spent$390,949 earned by the program33% of program spendingCrag's work also included non-litigation services which generated $62,482 in fee income at well below market rates: (1) nez perce tribe - represent tribe in natural resource damage assessment & clean up for the portland harbor superfund site. Public benefit: protection of environmental resources in the lower willamette river. (2) surfrider - advise surfrider on coastal access and beach protection policies and enforcement. Public benefit: protection of oregon's coastal ecological and recreational resources. (3) 1000 friends - friends of douglas county. Represent community groups to challenge rezone of rural lands to urban uses. Public benefit: protection of farm and forest lands. (4) just crossing alliance - columbia river crossing. Advise coalition of environmental and climate justice organizations to engage in public process related to interstate bridge replacement project. Public benefit: community engagement in government decision making for protection of community and river health. (5) washington conservation alliance - type np rule. Represent conservation organizations in defending washington state regulation to increase buffer around waterways from logging activites. Public…
$375,549 spent$62,482 earned by the program33% of program spendingCrag also provided legal services for free on issues & for a wide range of individuals & groups including: (1) climate - work with public interest organizations, environmental justice & community groups to research, develop & engage in climate policy at the state & local level. Public benefit: support policies to promote a sustainable climate & climate resiliency in impacted communities. (2) public lands defense - advise public interest organizations on policy changes proposed for public lands. Public benefit: public outreach & education to develop sound policy for land managers that protect communities, water supplies, wildlife & forest ecosystems. (3) consultation on conservation issues & policy guidance for various clients - public benefit: working with clients on collaborative & creative options for protecting oregon's natural resources, including its air, water & public health. (4) fossil fuel infrastructure - represent public interest organizations to challenge new or expanded fossil fuel infrastructure proposals. Public benefit: protecting air quality & reducing climate impacts. (5) protecting farmland - work with groups including thrive hood river and 1000 friends of…
$375,549 spent33% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,126,647.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 $2.1M to $3.0M (+46%).
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: 2020 7% · 2021 6% · 2022 0% · 2023 0% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
82% of CRAG LAW CENTER’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. 1 of the last 5 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
Courtney Johnson
Executive director
Board chair
Courtney Rae
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 22 funders, grant income rose $44k → $732k.
9 of 40 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 29% 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 CRAG LAW CENTER’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 40 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
CRAG LAW CENTER has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
32% 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 CRAG LAW CENTER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 34% · 2018 41% · 2019 29% · 2020 16% · 2021 36% · 2022 18% · 2023 17% — 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
60% of CRAG LAW CENTER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 70% 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
CRAG LAW CENTER draws 58% of its grant income from funders outside Oregon, across 7 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
CRAG LAW CENTER runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,187 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,187 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like CRAG LAW CENTER
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 Oregon
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
75%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 3 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CRAG LAW CENTER: 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 CRAG LAW CENTER?
- CRAG LAW CENTER (Oregon) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,166,774 to it, the largest being THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($1,020,648). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CRAG LAW CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 40 organizations giving $5,166,774 in grants to CRAG LAW CENTER, 28 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CRAG LAW CENTER?
- THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,020,648 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CRAG LAW CENTER find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 40 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