Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
Defenders of Wildlife
Defenders of Wildlife (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 523 organizations whose IRS filings report $55,177,789 to it, the largest being DOOLIN FOUNDATION FOR BIODIVERSITY ($5,775,000). 340 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $49M
- Funders on record
- 523
- Grants received
- $55M
- Net assets
- $61M
What Defenders of Wildlife does
Mission
Defenders of Wildlife is a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Conservation and Restoration of Imperiled Biodiversity in North America: Defenders of Wildlife focuses on the conservation of imperiled species and keystone or umbrella species that help restore the integrity and health of ecosystems. Our focus on wildlife and habitat conservation and the safeguarding of biodiversity defines our important niche in the environmental and conservation community. Long known for our leadership on endangered species issues, our programs emphasize imperiled species and their habitat throughout North America because of the irreparable loss that species extinction represents. We believe in the inherent value of wildlife and the natural world. To realize our conservation vision, Defenders of Wildlife engages in policy analysis and advocacy, litigation, innovative science, technology development, and conservation activities in the field. Our work is aimed at the prevention of species and habitats from becoming imperiled, the protection of endangered and threatened species and their habitats, and the restoration of the health of vulnerable species and their habitats. We are known for our innovative and pragmatic responses to a constantly changing political,…
$14,676,309 spentof which $548,266 as grants$66,974 earned by the program54% of program spendingMobilization of a Broader Constituency for Wildlife Conservation:Defenders of Wildlife implements nation-wide conservation initiatives and place-based conservation programs that are rooted in the communities in which we work. We focus on strategic areas where we can have a positive impact on wildlife and landscapes. We are driven by our responsibility to mobilize and grow a movement for conservation that will endure for generations to come. We issue a monthly email publication, as well as an Impact Report, sent to all members who have provided us with their email address. It features informative articles on important wildlife and land management conservation issues, editorial comments, and updates on current activities taken by the organization. Our educational outreach projects include: providing the public with up-to-date information on wildlife and habitat protection issues; maintaining an activist network and alerting activists to contact elected officials on key wildlife conservation issues; and providing information to students and teachers on wildlife issues. We also reach the public by briefing the local and national media on important wildlife topics, by producing high…
$12,538,215 spentof which $61,168 as grants46% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $27,214,524.
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 $50M to $58M (+17%).
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: 2019 0% · 2020 0% · 2021 6% · 2022 1% · 2023 1% · 2024 1% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
86% of Defenders of Wildlife’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Mark Caylor
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 141 funders to 224 funders, grant income rose $3.4M → $7.8M.
53 of 523 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 36% 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 Defenders of Wildlife’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 523 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
Defenders of Wildlife has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 10% of grant income, and it takes 8 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 8 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 Defenders of Wildlife.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 20% · 2018 19% · 2019 20% · 2020 14% · 2021 16% · 2022 17% · 2023 26% — 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
49% of Defenders of Wildlife's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
Defenders of Wildlife draws 98% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 42 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $20M arriving through sponsors registered in 21 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
Defenders of Wildlife runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 134 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 134 animals nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding Defenders of Wildlife receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $62k on record.
- Department of Defense$47k
- Department of Agriculture$15k
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 Defenders of Wildlife
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 28 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Defenders of Wildlife: 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 Defenders of Wildlife?
- Defenders of Wildlife (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 523 organizations whose IRS filings report $55,177,789 to it, the largest being DOOLIN FOUNDATION FOR BIODIVERSITY ($5,775,000). 340 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Defenders of Wildlife have?
- IRS filings report 523 organizations giving $55,177,789 in grants to Defenders of Wildlife, 340 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Defenders of Wildlife?
- DOOLIN FOUNDATION FOR BIODIVERSITY is the largest funder on record, with $5,775,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Defenders of Wildlife find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 523 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