California · Nonprofit
Desert Forum Inc
Desert Forum Inc (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $549,650 to it, the largest being HN and Frances C Berger Foundation ($400,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.6M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $550k
- Net assets
- $1.7M
What Desert Forum Inc does
Programs
Lecture series - this program presents speeches and lectures by prominent world leaders. The program provides a forum for the general public to attend these lectures and obtain an insight into world events, public service, and other matters affecting our world.
$1,573,933 spent$775,755 earned by the program98% of program spendingYouth ambassador program - this program enables students from local area schools to attend speeches and lectures given by prominent civic and world leaders. It expands the students' intellectual horizons and exposes them to leaders who will serve as their role models.
$30,866 spentof which $10,000 as grants2% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,604,799.
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 2019 to 2020, from $3.0M to $2.4M (−18%).
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 3% · 2018 2% · 2019 2% · 2020 4% · 2022 2% · 2023 2% · 2024 2% · 2025 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
48% of Desert Forum Inc’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. 4 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income rose $25k → $120k.
1 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% 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 Forum Inc’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 Forum Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 73% of grant income and the top three 97%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 60% · 2018 97% · 2019 67% · 2021 81% · 2022 83% · 2023 83% — 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
97% of Desert Forum Inc's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $10k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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 Forum Inc's funding has concentrated — grant income rose while the number of funders held roughly flat.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 497 public benefit nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like Desert Forum 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
91%
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 Forum 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 Forum Inc?
- Desert Forum Inc (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $549,650 to it, the largest being HN and Frances C Berger Foundation ($400,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Desert Forum Inc have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $549,650 in grants to Desert Forum Inc, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Desert Forum Inc?
- HN and Frances C Berger Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $400,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Desert Forum Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 6 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