Vermont · Nonprofit
GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND
GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND (Vermont) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,729,144 to it, the largest being THE WEGE FOUNDATION ($4,873,500). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.3M
- Funders on record
- 27
- Grants received
- $9.7M
- Net assets
- $22M
What Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund does
Mission
The mission of the GDFCF is to carry out any project or initiative that will increase the chances of survival of the ecosystems and biodiversity of Area de Conservacion Guanacaste in Northern Costa Rica. See Schedule O for additional details.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Acg biodiversity inventory:funded biodiversity inventory of the area de conservacion guananacaste (acg) for direct scientific basic research and education, and for use in management and conservation decisions by acg. Expenses include the operating costs of 13 research stations staffed by locally-trained parataxonomists, funding for researchers and assistants, the cost of dna barcoding of specimens collected and grants to researchers assisting in the related work.
$2,267,722 spentof which $286,950 as grants72% of program spendingMade direct grants to and other payments on behalf of the area de conservacion guanacaste to subsidize equipment purchases and other costs of its operations.
$660,915 spentof which $660,915 as grants21% of program spendingPurchase and holding of land for preservation:the organization acquired no new land during 2024. Current year costs include property taxes, legal fees, and other expenses associated with the organization's existing land holdings. The organization received $241,746 of environmental services payments from the government of costa rica as compensation for preserving these forest lands, plus $140,130 from an electrical utility company as a mitigation payment for construction of wind energy utility lines over the organization's property.
$121,607 spent$381,876 earned by the program4% of program spendingEducation program:funded grants to programs providing biological education to local school children.
$84,981 spentof which $29,818 as grants3% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,135,225.
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 2021 to 2022, from $19M to $21M (+12%).
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.
61% of GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND’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. 4 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
Eric Palola
Exec Dir/Sec'y
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $29k → $971k.
8 of 27 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 28% 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 GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND’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
GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND leans on a few funders — its largest provides 50% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
29% 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 GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 51% · 2018 37% · 2019 44% · 2020 67% · 2021 33% · 2022 75% · 2023 34% — 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
64% of GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside Vermont, across 11 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND's funding base is broadening — from 2 funders to 15 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,186 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND
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 Vermont
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
42%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 34 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND: 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 GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND?
- GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND (Vermont) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,729,144 to it, the largest being THE WEGE FOUNDATION ($4,873,500). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND have?
- IRS filings report 27 organizations giving $9,729,144 in grants to GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND?
- THE WEGE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,873,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GUANACASTE DRY FOREST CONSERVATION FUND find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Vermont. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 27 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