California · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER
FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER (California) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $260,679 to it, the largest being HEALTHY PETALUMA FOUNDATION ($75,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $528k
- Funders on record
- 15
- Grants received
- $261k
- Net assets
- $35k
What Friends of the Petaluma River does
Mission
To educate and inform the public on issues affecting the petaluma river and surrounding wetlands.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Petaluma River Greenway - Friends is working to permanently protect the upper Petaluma River through a campaign to purchase and restore an almost 2-mile stretch. This project would provide habitat restoration, public access to nature and outdoor recreation, flood protection and climate change mitigation among other community benefits.
$147,468 spent34% of program spendingSummer and Day Camps - Friends operates a successful summer camp called the Green Heron Nature Camp for 5-12 year olds that gets kids outside exploring nature through paddling, hiking, swimming, crafting, games and play. During the school year, Friends offers weekend camps for youth each month. Of the roughly 400 youth who participate in Friends' camps each year, 1/4 do so through free scholarships made possible by donors.
$146,275 spent34% of program spendingWatershed Classroom - Friends works in approximately 10 local schools to get kids outside, learning about their local environment through hands-on, experiential curriculum. With a focus on Title 1 schools, Friends works to ensure that all students have access to outdoor, nature-based experiences and environmental education.
$97,453 spent23% of program spendingSteamer Landing Park is City-owned, open space park in downtown Petaluma along the banks of the Petaluma River. It houses the David Yearsley River Heritage Center, a 100-year old renovated livery stable that houses Friends' programs and events. The Park and the Center are the hub for Friends activities, hosting field trips for our Watershed Classroom program, campers during our Green Heron Nature Camp, community events like Rivertown Revival and Transhumance, our free Boating at the Barn program, and more.
$19,350 spent5% of program spendingPetaluma River Cleanup - Friends conducts two large river cleanups each year with about 200-300 volunteers working at 10-15 locations in the watershed. These cleanups regularly remove 2,000-5,000 lbs of trash from our waterways. Friends also works with schools, businesses, civic organizations and others to provide volunteer river cleanup experiences for smaller groups. Each year, Friends river cleanups remove an average of 10,000 lbs. of trash from the Petaluma River and its tributaries.
$18,984 spent4% of program spendingPublish monthly newsletter and develop brochures to educate and inform the public on issues, activities, and conditions that affect the petaluma river and surrounding wetlands.
The 6 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $429,530.
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 2022 to 2023, from $111k to $45k (−59%).
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: 2024 17%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
67% of FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER’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. 5 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.
Board chair
David Stirrat
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 3 funders, grant income rose $6k → $31k.
7 of 15 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 66% 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 FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER’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
FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 29% of grant income and the top three 80%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders 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 FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 83% · 2018 83% · 2019 83% · 2020 100% · 2021 44% · 2022 100% · 2023 64% — 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
17% of FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 27% 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
66% of FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER'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 $89k that is directly attributable, 98% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $172k 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
FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER has grown faster than half of the 2,433 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,433 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER
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
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER: 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 FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER?
- FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER (California) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $260,679 to it, the largest being HEALTHY PETALUMA FOUNDATION ($75,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER have?
- IRS filings report 15 organizations giving $260,679 in grants to FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER?
- HEALTHY PETALUMA FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $75,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF THE PETALUMA RIVER 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 Friends of the Petaluma River →
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 15 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