New York · Nonprofit
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED (New York) receives grants from 1669 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,178,573,230 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($279,017,367). 1073 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $443M
- Funders on record
- 1,669
- Grants received
- $1.2B
- Net assets
- $387M
What Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated does
Mission
To preserve the natural systems on which all life depends. Guided by science & economics, we find practical & lasting solutions to the most serious environmental problems. We work to stabilize the climate, strengthen the ability of people and nature to thrive and support people's health.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Protect public health and the environment - in fy 2025, edf relied on data from the methanesat satellite and methaneair flights to provide the first comprehensive global look at how much methane is being emitted by oil and gas producers. At the international maritime organization, edf participated in technical discussions about the shipping decarbonization strategy, focused on efficiency, and a fuel standard. In the u.s., edf helped advance clean affordable energy and permitting for clean energy projects in california, florida, illinois, new mexico, north carolina, connecticut, maine, new hampshire, rhode island, vermont, texas, and other states.
$94,000,129 spentof which $12,731,489 as grants30% of program spendingCore capacities and education - in fy 2025, edf delivered results across our core capacities, including corporate engagement, economics and science. Edf worked with three new corporate members into the dairy methane action alliance to reduce methane emissions across dairy supply chains. Edf advanced science by demonstrating a cutting-edge hydrogen sensor being used in a research study coordinated by edf to measure hydrogen emissions. Edf's water leadership institute worked with more than 70 rural and tribal leaders, in technical discussions on skills, knowledge and networks to address water challenges in their communities.
$89,672,447 spentof which $23,510,949 as grants28% of program spendingStrengthen people's and nature's ability to thrive - in fy 2025, edf made progress on resilient water supplies in california, colorado, new mexico and texas. Edf advanced policy and management recommendations for fisheries, helping to strengthen conservation efforts, improve regulation of fishing practices and modernize governance.
$58,033,044 spentof which $9,471,699 as grants18% of program spendingProgram service expenses to support people's health and regionally focused work.
$72,968,353 spentof which $5,843,734 as grants23% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $314,673,973.
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 2020 to 2021, from $268M to $437M (+63%).
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 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 1% · 2020 2% · 2021 0% · 2023 2% · 2024 3% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
93% of ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (90% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Amanda Leland
Executive Director
Board chair
Mark W Heising
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 416 funders to 694 funders, grant income rose $63M → $167M.
144 of 1669 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 46% 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: $79k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest California Fisheries Fund Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED raised.
From the IRS filings of ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 1669 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
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 24% of grant income, and it takes 10 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 10 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 ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 28% · 2018 26% · 2019 24% · 2020 17% · 2021 18% · 2022 15% · 2023 17% — 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
46% of ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED draws 74% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 47 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $538M arriving through sponsors registered in 34 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
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 15 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 15 environment nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Government funding ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $7.0M on record.
- Department of Energy$6.0M
- Department of State$865k
- National Science Foundation$80k
- Department of Agriculture$50k
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 ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
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 York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
86%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 31 states
Part of a family of 15 related entities
- Methanesat LLC · disregarded
- Satmgmt LLC · disregarded
- Environmental Defense Action Fund · exempt
- Environmental Defense Fund de Mexico Ac · exempt
- Environmental Defense Fund UK · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: 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 ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED?
- ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED (New York) receives grants from 1669 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,178,573,230 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($279,017,367). 1073 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED have?
- IRS filings report 1669 organizations giving $1,178,573,230 in grants to ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED, 1073 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $279,017,367 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 1669 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