California · Nonprofit
EROWID CENTER
EROWID CENTER (California) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $745,086 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($527,355). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 85% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $424k
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $745k
- Net assets
- $534k
What Erowid Center does
Mission
To provide & facilitate access to objective, accurate, and non-judgmental information about psychoactive plants chemicals, drugs, technologies, and related issues. Erowid also supports and trains information providers and assists medical, legal, and scientific experts in developing resources.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
1. DrugsData Lab Drug Checking -- Erowid Center runs a laboratory drug checking program that analyzes the contents of street samples of psychoactive drugs, including: novel psychoactive substances (NPS); stimulants and euphoric stimulants; psychedelics; research chemicals; street heroin; fentanyl; and other opioids; as well as commercial and counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Samples are tested at a licensed laboratory and the results are published online at DrugsData.org. Erowid's DrugsData project also collects, manages, reviews, and presents laboratory-testing results from other US and international organizations. This information is made publicly available to help harm-reduction efforts, medical personnel, researchers, and the public. In 2023, 2,396 samples were tested through this project and 250 unique substances were detected. These results were published alongside 982 samples tested by other organizations. An average of 35,000 result pages were viewed per day, with an average 14,000 unique visitors per day. Results were regularly published on social media to Erowid's more than 180,000 followers. Erowid continued its partnerships with research groups doing lab validation of…
$258,731 spent$343,656 earned by the program39% of program spending2. Public Online Information Services -- Erowid Center develops, maintains, and provides free access to an online collection of more than 96,500 documents, images, and other media files related to psychoactive plants and drugs. The collection contains information, essays and articles authored by a broad spectrum of contributors including health care professionals, substance abuse counselors, toxicologists, chemists, therapists, law enforcement agents, lawyers, anthropologists, experiential experts, writers, media, educators, and the general public. Note that Erowid's Experience Reports project is tracked as a separate program service. Erowid also shared information via social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
$137,247 spent21% of program spending3. Archiving of Historical Documents -- Erowid Center's mission includes collecting, organizing, and preserving resources about psychoactives for the historical record. In 2023, Erowid's primary document archiving project was the Shulgin Collection. Erowid made great progress in digitizing Alexander and Ann Shulgin's personal papers, audio recordings, and documents. Erowid also organized, identified, and created metadata for digitized files. By the end of the year, Erowid had created index entries for 35,000 scanned documents in the collection of around 200,000 total scanned items. Erowid Center maintains a physical space designed to allow processing of historical archive collections (organizing, scanning, photographing, and digitizing) as well as permanent storage of some library archives/collections.
$90,092 spent14% of program spending4. Research, Surveys, & Research Improvement -- In 2023, Erowid co-authored 1 published peer-reviewed journal article. We participated in writing and submitting two additional papers, not published in 2023. We worked on multiple scientific/medical research projects as part of the Lab Validation subproject of our DrugsData program. Erowid improves scientific, medical, and sociological information about psychoactive substances and those who use them by promoting participation in studies and surveys produced by academics, educational institutions, and related organizations. Erowid works directly with scientists-in areas where we have specialized knowledge-to help design credible studies and provide editing, reviewing, and fact-checking for resulting academic publications. Erowid Center's resources are referenced in hundreds of journal articles, books, and media articles each year
$56,946 spent$28,388 earned by the program9% of program spending5. Drug Trend & Novel Psychoactive Substance Tracking -- Tracking new psychoactive medicines, technologies, research chemicals, psychedelics, and novel psychoactive substances (NPS) is one of Erowid Center's areas of expertise. With the objective of educating the public on the risks and benefits associated with emerging drugs, we 1) monitor the availability, use patterns, and effects of these substances through consultation with volunteers, allied organizations, medical professionals, submissions, and online forums; 2) analyze psychoactive chemicals through our DrugsData program (tracked as a separate project); 3) coordinate between experts and researchers in the field; 4) educate writers and authors for media, news, and books; and 5) publish information about these substances, online and in print. In 2023, Erowid's DrugsData encountered 48 unidentifiable novel substances in submitted samples. With the help of a network of international experts, we were able to identify 24 of these. Erowid worked with multiple groups to monitor the contents of street 'heroin'/down/dope/fentanyl as well as cocaine and methamphetamine. Erowid helped identify and characterize contaminants, synthesis…
$50,520 spent8% of program spending6. Education and Educational Materials, Books, and Gifts -- Erowid provided direct education services by answering online questions from the public via email, social media, and other communication systems. Erowid maintains a social media presence via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn through which we publish new information, drug checking results, news and research updates, and answer questions related to psychoactives. We distribute books, handouts, and teaching materials about psychoactive drugs, plants, practices, and technologies to members and the general public, furthering our educational mission.
$26,257 spent$7,785 earned by the program4% of program spending7. Experience Reports Collection -- Erowid Center solicited, reviewed, and published first-hand reports of people's experiences with psychoactive plants, drugs, and technologies. Erowid's Experience Reports generated information about novel and classic psychoactive materials as well as aggregate data about why and how people use psychoactives, both for current factual documentation and for the historical record. Researchers, academics, medical professionals, and the public use the results for educational purposes and as data for peer-reviewed articles and publications. Reports are reviewed and edited before being published. Trained volunteers perform a portion of the work under the supervision of Erowid staff. In 2023, Erowid crew completed 3,750 "triages" (reading and rating an experience report), review-edited for publication 548, and published 444, ending the year with 42,279 published reports in the collection covering 886 substances. Approximately 21 million experience reports were viewed during the year.
$20,013 spent3% of program spending8. Events & Conferences -- Erowid conducts educational outreach in person and online at conferences, seminars, festivals, and meetings. In 2023, we had monthly technical meetings with research partners monitoring street drug contents and contaminants as part of our DrugsData project. Erowid Center had a booth at the Psychedelic Science convention in Denver Colorado, with six Erowid crew members working the booth. Erowid gave one formal presentation at that convention. We also spoke at two events, one a course at UC Berkeley and one Shulgin-related, as well as attending two additional Shulgin related events.
$15,425 spent2% of program spending9. Information Network - EEN -- Erowid Center works with a network of both professionally trained and self-taught experts with knowledge about psychoactive plants, chemicals, and technologies. Erowid Expert Network (EEN) members volunteer to share their expertise for the purpose of educating the public and improving the quality of information about this topic. The EEN facilitates making connections between those who are seeking information and experts who can help them. This furthers Erowid Center's mission by helping to improve both internal and external educational resources through increased fact checking and review.
$6,595 spent1% of program spending10. Erowid Extracts Educational Newsletter -- Erowid Center continued to collect information for a future newsletter issue centered on public drug checking and our DrugsData laboratory drug checking program (program expenses tracked separately). This advertisement-free print publication is distributed to members when published and past issues are distributed for free at conferences we attend. A complete digital version and constituent articles are later published online for free access by the general public. More than 15,000 copies of previous issues of Erowid Extracts were viewed/downloaded in 2023, and thousands of people read individual articles from previous issues online. Back issues were also distributed worldwide for free to related organizations, members, and events.
$5,076 spent1% of program spending
The 10 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $666,902.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 2021 to 2022, from $785k to $432k (−45%).
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: 2021 5% · 2022 0% · 2023 0% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
62% of EROWID CENTER’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 4 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 broadened from 1 funder to 7 funders, grant income rose $46k → $99k.
5 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 85% 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 EROWID CENTER’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
EROWID CENTER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 71% of grant income and the top three 87%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder 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 EROWID CENTER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 76% · 2020 73% · 2021 65% · 2022 33% · 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.
How long its funders stay
50% of EROWID CENTER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 83% 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
85% of EROWID CENTER'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 $113k that is directly attributable, 76% of it comes from funders outside California, across 7 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $633k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
EROWID CENTER's revenue fell 39% between 2021 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 13,754 health nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like EROWID CENTER
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
83% 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 EROWID CENTER: 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 EROWID CENTER?
- EROWID CENTER (California) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $745,086 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($527,355). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 85% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does EROWID CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $745,086 in grants to EROWID CENTER, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of EROWID CENTER?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $527,355 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like EROWID CENTER 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 Erowid Center →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2021–2024), and the filings of 12 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