Skip to content

California · Nonprofit

EARTHJUSTICE

EARTHJUSTICE (California) receives grants from 1054 organizations whose IRS filings report $527,663,217 to it, the largest being FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS ($95,646,750). 690 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$171M
Funders on record
1,054
Grants received
$528M
Net assets
$268M
690/1054 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 70%
01What it does

What Earthjustice does

Mission

Earthjustice is a premier nonprofit public interest environmental law organization. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people's health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Provide free legal representation, working through the courts on behalf of citizen groups, scientists, environmental and other organizations to ensure that government agencies and private interests follow the law.

    $90,742,365 spentof which $2,109,242 as grants$5,787,062 earned by the program
    67% of program spending
  2. Provide increased public, media, and policy maker awareness of environmental issues and the role of law in solving them.

    $45,463,911 spentof which $4,073,536 as grants
    33% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $136,206,276.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($94M) Expenses 100 ($52M) Net assets 100 ($122M)2018 Revenue 85 ($80M) Expenses 124 ($64M) Net assets 116 ($141M)2019 Revenue 109 ($103M) Expenses 152 ($78M) Net assets 140 ($170M)2020 Revenue 156 ($147M) Expenses 187 ($97M) Net assets 184 ($224M)2021 Revenue 122 ($115M) Expenses 207 ($107M) Net assets 225 ($273M)2022 Revenue 144 ($135M) Expenses 248 ($128M) Net assets 202 ($246M)2023 Revenue 134 ($126M) Expenses 287 ($148M) Net assets 196 ($238M)2024 Revenue 149 ($140M) Expenses 295 ($152M) Net assets 201 ($244M)2025 Revenue 182 ($171M) Expenses 325 ($168M) Net assets 220 ($268M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (182)Expenses (325)Net assets (220)Peer revenue range

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 $184M to $247M (+34%).

$133M
$155M
$184M
$247M
$301M
$277M
$295M
$297M
$316M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

90% of EARTHJUSTICE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (90% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 22 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$42M
’17
$16M
’18
$24M
’19
$50M
’20
$8.1M
’21
$7.6M
’22
−$22M
’23
−$13M
’24
$3.3M
’25
2.4
months of
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.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed474742444846444846
Joined·+7+5+3+10+3+2+9+9
No longer listed·7101654511
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 272 funders to 479 funders, grant income rose $41M → $89M.

123 of 1054 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 41% 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 EARTHJUSTICE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 1054 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

EARTHJUSTICE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% of grant income, and it takes 9 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 9 funders to its left

51% 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 EARTHJUSTICE.

18%
largest funder
31%
top three
~19
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 54% · 2018 32% · 2019 26% · 2020 20% · 2021 19% · 2022 17% · 2023 16% — 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

52% of EARTHJUSTICE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

EARTHJUSTICE draws 68% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 49 states in all.

AK
ME
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
GA
TX
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $217M arriving through sponsors registered in 36 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

EARTHJUSTICE's funding base is broadening — from 272 funders to 479 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin2% · below the median
Months of reserve2.4mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)8% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 15 environment nonprofits over $100M, FY2025

Government funding EARTHJUSTICE receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2k on record.

State$2k
21
23
Top programs
  • REFUNDS - GENERAL $2k

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 EARTHJUSTICE

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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

81% of spending goes to programs.

Program 81%Management 10%Fundraising 9%

Governance

33
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

93%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 27 states

NH
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
PA
NJ
CA
KY
WV
VA
MD
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
HI
MS
AL
GA
FL

Part of a family of 3 related entities

  • Earthjustice Action · exempt
  • Charitable Remainder Trust (9) · corp_trust
  • Pooled Income Fund (1) · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for EARTHJUSTICE: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 EARTHJUSTICE?
EARTHJUSTICE (California) receives grants from 1054 organizations whose IRS filings report $527,663,217 to it, the largest being FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS ($95,646,750). 690 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does EARTHJUSTICE have?
IRS filings report 1054 organizations giving $527,663,217 in grants to EARTHJUSTICE, 690 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of EARTHJUSTICE?
FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS is the largest funder on record, with $95,646,750 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like EARTHJUSTICE 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 1054 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