California · Nonprofit
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOUNDATION
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $201,865 to it, the largest being ENVIRONMENT NOW ($115,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $236k
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $202k
- Net assets
- $58k
What Environmental Law Foundation does
Mission
Environmental Law Foundation's (ELF) mission is to protect the environment, communities, and consumers against harmful toxics and other environmental harms. Our work consistently improves environmental quality for those most at risk by providing access to information, strategies and enforcement of environmental, toxics, and community right-to-know laws.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
In order to achieve our mission, ELF brings legal cases and advocates on behalf of the public interest. In 2022, among other things, we advocated for flow requirements in the Scott River in Northern California. We also litigated cases protecting groundwater resources in the San Joaquin Valley and advocated for regulation of dairy CAFOs consistent with state law.
$243,820 spentof which $227,686 as grants$249,133 earned by the program100% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $243,820.
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 $10k to $365k (+3739%).
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% · 2019 0% · 2021 14% · 2022 0% · 2023 0% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (94% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 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
Nathaniel Kane
Executive Director
Board chair
Alex Leumer
Board President
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $6k → $70k.
2 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% 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 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW 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
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 57% of grant income and the top three 88%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
28% 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 LAW FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 86% · 2022 100% · 2023 57% — 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.
Where its funders are
77% of ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOUNDATION's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5k 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
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOUNDATION has grown faster than half of the 2,538 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,538 crime & legal nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like ENVIRONMENTAL LAW 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
100% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
62%
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 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW 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 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOUNDATION?
- ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $201,865 to it, the largest being ENVIRONMENT NOW ($115,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $201,865 in grants to ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOUNDATION, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOUNDATION?
- ENVIRONMENT NOW is the largest funder on record, with $115,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOUNDATION 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.
Play a game about who funds Environmental Law →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 7 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