California · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF THE SANTA CLARA RIVER
FRIENDS OF THE SANTA CLARA RIVER (California) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $54,030 to it, the largest being JOHN S KIEWIT MEMORIAL FOUNDATION ($25,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $63k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $54k
- Net assets
- $127k
What Friends of the Santa Clara River does
Mission
Preservation of the Santa Clara River, including its tributaries, floodplains, habitat and native flora and fauna. Restoration/management of the Hedrick Natural Area conservation easement. Restoration/management of other land trust areas that might become available. Public education on river issues.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Dis advantaged Community Improvement Project. Develop a bilingual guide (Spanish-English) to river restoration with terminology translation. Work with the disadvantaged community in Fillmore on an ethno botany garden, including a downloadable biligual quide to terms used in river restoration accessible for public use through our website. It included removal of invasive species , arundo donax, etc., replanting with native wetland and riparian species and monitoring for the return of other native species. It also included volunteer and educational programs for school children and others wishing to save the Santa Clara River habitat. These expenses came from planning and running a bilingual workshop for restoration field technicians working in the Santa Clara River, with a workshop specific accompanying guidebook. The funds came from a Dept Water Resources Grant for their Disadvantaged Community Involvement Program 'WaterTalks'. This program was statewide with the goal to include socially and environmentally disadvantaged communities in water issues needs assessments and opportunities for education on water related topics. The workshop and guidebook addressed conservation education…
$18,033 spentof which $18,007 as grants$18,007 earned by the program18% of program spendingGeneral preservation/legal actions to protect water quality, floodplains or other areas of concern on the Santa Clara River.
$7,000 spentof which $6,000 as grants$6,000 earned by the program7% of program spendingHedrick Natural Area (conservation easement) management Preservation of the Santa Clara River, including its tributaries, floodplains, habitat and native flora and fauna.Wetlands Restoration Projects - 230 acres of conservation easement along the Santa Clara River to its original native habitat. Some funds were given by the County of Ventura to support the re-establishment of the Hedrick Ranch Nature Area nursery. Friends of the Santa Clara River has regular has regular volunteer days and people of all ages, including families and college students are able to help and enjoy growing native plants on the HRNA conservation easement.
$1,120 spentof which $1,120 as grants1% of program spendingExplore th Coast - bringing school children down the Santa Clara River to the estuary and teaching them about the native flora and fauna that live in these habitats.
$62,677 spentof which $62,677 as grants$62,677 earned by the program63% of program spendingTree Planting grant from Ventura County at Sespe Cienega Reserve
$10,781 spentof which $10,781 as grants$10,781 earned by the program11% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $99,611.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2023 to 2024, from $130k to $159k (+22%).
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: 2020 90% · 2021 51% · 2022 64% · 2023 69% · 2024 88%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of FRIENDS OF THE SANTA CLARA RIVER’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (95% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 5 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
James Danza
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $6k → $7k.
2 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 43% 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 SANTA CLARA 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 SANTA CLARA RIVER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 46% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
54% 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 SANTA CLARA RIVER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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
100% of FRIENDS OF THE SANTA CLARA RIVER's grant income comes from California funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $23k 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
FRIENDS OF THE SANTA CLARA RIVER runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 7,183 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 7,183 philanthropy nonprofits under $100k, FY2024
Organizations like FRIENDS OF THE SANTA CLARA 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
100% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 FRIENDS OF THE SANTA CLARA 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 SANTA CLARA RIVER?
- FRIENDS OF THE SANTA CLARA RIVER (California) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $54,030 to it, the largest being JOHN S KIEWIT MEMORIAL FOUNDATION ($25,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF THE SANTA CLARA RIVER have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $54,030 in grants to FRIENDS OF THE SANTA CLARA RIVER, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF THE SANTA CLARA RIVER?
- JOHN S KIEWIT MEMORIAL FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $25,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF THE SANTA CLARA 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 Santa Clara River →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 4 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