New Mexico · Nonprofit
DESERT FORGE FOUNDATION
DESERT FORGE FOUNDATION (New Mexico) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $175,000 to it, the largest being ALBUQUERQUE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($83,500). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 83% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2019
- $55k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $175k
- Net assets
- $28k
What Desert Forge Foundation does
Mission
Restoring emotional,mental and physical health to returning veterans through meaningful job training, employment and the arts.
As stated on its FY2019 Form 990-EZ.
Program
Accomplishments: desert forge added to it's partnerships, supporting 4 veteran owned/operated farms and 1 first-responder owned farm, and 2 additional partner farms and agricultural-based businesses with nearly 2000 volunteer hours provided for partner farm activities. In addition, dff began a relationship with the del norte high school jr. Rotc program, the school on wheels service learning program, and the explora farm camp hosted by the village of los ranchos, providing outreach and volunteer opportunities and curriculum instruction. Desert Forge Foundation's warrior farmer project began a long-term lease with the rio grande community farm in november 2019 which will provide program continuity and support, 3+ dedicated acres of agricultural land at a better lease rate, saving dff program funds, while providing a foundational asset to build upon. Desert forge provided employment for 5 veterans, with payroll paid to veterans increasing year over year more than 50%. Programming in conjunction with the warrior farmer project brought in more than 35 consistent volunteers, more than half of whom are either veterans or active-duty service members. In 2019 desert forge hired a 3/4 time…
The first program described on its most recent Form 990-EZ.
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 $77k to $41k (−47%).
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 69%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of DESERT FORGE FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (100% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 3 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2022: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $66k → $1k.
2 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 83% 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 DESERT FORGE FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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 FORGE FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 48% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
96% 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 FORGE FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 91% · 2020 52% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% — 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.
Where its funders are
83% of DESERT FORGE FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $30k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from New Mexico funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $146k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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 FORGE FOUNDATION's revenue fell 86% between 2017 and 2019.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,208 food & nutrition nonprofits under $100k, FY2019
Organizations like DESERT FORGE FOUNDATION
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 Mexico
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DESERT FORGE FOUNDATION: 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 FORGE FOUNDATION?
- DESERT FORGE FOUNDATION (New Mexico) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $175,000 to it, the largest being ALBUQUERQUE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($83,500). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 83% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does DESERT FORGE FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $175,000 in grants to DESERT FORGE FOUNDATION, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DESERT FORGE FOUNDATION?
- ALBUQUERQUE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $83,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DESERT FORGE FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New Mexico. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Desert Forge →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2019 (financials across 2017–2019), and the filings of 5 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing