Arizona · Nonprofit
DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC
DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC (Arizona) receives grants from 150 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,393,326 to it, the largest being Virginia G Piper Charitable Trust ($963,129). 87 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $30M
- Funders on record
- 150
- Grants received
- $8.4M
- Net assets
- $80M
What Desert Botanical Garden Inc does
Mission
The garden's commitment to the community is to advance excellence in education, research, exhibition and conservation of desert plants of the world with emphasis on the sonoran desert. We will ensure that the garden is always a compelling attraction that brings to life the many wonders of the desert.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Horticulture - propagating & maintaining a living plant collection of over 50,000 desert plants with particular emphasis on those inhabiting the sonoran desert, many of which are endangered species. This program also works to preserve desert plant life outside of its collection by educating the public regarding the beauty, variety and fragility of desert plant life by displaying and interpreting its collection for the public at its garden in phoenix, az which in the current year attracted over 520,000 visitors from all over the world. Education - provides programming for children, adults, and educators that promote greater enjoyment, understanding and stewardship of the sonoran desert. (continued on schedule o)children's programming at the desert botanical garden promotes a scientifically and environmentally literate community through hands-on, nature-based learning, and garden staff and resources. These place-based experiences inspire a connection to the unique wonders of the sonoran desert, encourage conservation of the natural world, and ignite a life-long appreciation for the environment. Informal programs span the ages of infants to teenagers alongside their caregivers…
$19,994,362 spent$17,162,592 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $19,994,362.
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 2018 to 2019, from $32M to $50M (+55%).
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 2% · 2018 2% · 2019 2% · 2020 3% · 2021 2% · 2022 6% · 2023 2% · 2024 3% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
35% of DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Kenneth Schutz
Executive director (until 9/30/25)
Board chair
Scott Burdick
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 31 funders to 62 funders, grant income rose $406k → $1.4M.
15 of 150 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 22% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $9.1M from 8 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Desert Botanical Garden Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC raised.
From the IRS filings of DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 150 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
DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 11% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 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 DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 19% · 2018 29% · 2019 33% · 2020 37% · 2021 41% · 2022 15% · 2023 36% — 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
44% of DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN 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
63% of DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC's grant income comes from Arizona funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M 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
DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 210 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 210 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.9M on record.
- Department of the Interior$1.2M
- National Science Foundation$1.1M
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$899k
- Department of Agriculture$768k
- Department of Defense$30k
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 DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN 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 Arizona
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
73% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
87%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 41 states
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Dbg Agave LLC · disregarded
- Desert Botanical Garden Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN 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 DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC?
- DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC (Arizona) receives grants from 150 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,393,326 to it, the largest being Virginia G Piper Charitable Trust ($963,129). 87 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC have?
- IRS filings report 150 organizations giving $8,393,326 in grants to DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC, 87 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC?
- Virginia G Piper Charitable Trust is the largest funder on record, with $963,129 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arizona. 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 150 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