Arizona · Nonprofit
INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE
INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE (Arizona) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,049,984 to it, the largest being THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY ($336,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.8M
- Funders on record
- 17
- Grants received
- $1.0M
- Net assets
- $3.5M
What International Sonoran Desert Alliance does
Mission
At the International Sonoran Desert Alliance, we design and implement environmental, cultural, real estate and business development projects intended to preserve and enrich the environment, culture and economy of the sonoran desert. We are committed to fostering communication, understanding and cooperation among the diverse cultures residing in the area.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The International Sonoran Desert Alliance (isda) works to improve sonoran desert communities through housing and community economic development projects. Isda is a leader in rural "creative placemaking" with a series of successful historic renovation and re-purposing projects in ajo, az. Isda restored and converted the historic curley school in into 30 affordable live/work apartments for artists, artisans, and creative home entrepreneurs. Isda renovated other historic building on the curley creative campus into an international retreat center, a community kitchen, a clay studio, and wood shop. Isda is undertaking a multi-year renovation of the historic town plaza, bringing back the architectural significant structures at the heart of the ajo community back into productive use. Creative placemaking efforts by the organization constitute approximately 50% of the annual revenue and expenses for the organization.
$1,506,612 spent$571,097 earned by the program100% of program spendingIsda spearheads tri-national convening efforts that include hosting the biennial tri-national sonoran desert symposium and chairing the working group for the sonoran desert biosphere region - a member of the unesco world network of biosphere reserves. In fy 24 the organization committed approximately 230,000 toward these efforts.
The International Sonoran Desert Alliance provides a comprehensive continuum of supportive services to the community of ajo and the surrounding region. These services include adult basic education & ged classes; utility, rent & food assistance programs; apprenticeship and internship opportunities; volunteer income tax assistance; minor home repair & weatherization; and business support services. In fy 24 the organization committed approximately 300,000 to these programs.
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,506,612.
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 $4.9M to $7.4M (+51%).
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 30% · 2018 23% · 2019 32% · 2020 27% · 2021 19% · 2022 14% · 2023 12% · 2024 35%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
65% of INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE’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. 3 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $30k → $144k.
7 of 17 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 49% 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 INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE’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
INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 32% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
97% 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 INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 79% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 61% · 2021 61% · 2022 68% · 2023 84% — growing more concentrated.
“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
30% of INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 47% 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
INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE draws 83% of its grant income from funders outside Arizona, across 8 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $513k 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
INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 2,186 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,186 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.5M on record.
- Environmental Protection Agency$500k
- Department of Agriculture$408k
- Small Business Administration$400k
- Department of the Interior$142k
- Department of Commerce$70k
- National Endowment for the Arts$25k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE
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 Arizona
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 5 related entities
- Ajo Plaza LLC · disregarded
- Curley School Artisian Housing LLC · disregarded
- Ajo Management Company LLC · disregarded
- Curley School Housing Partners LLC · exempt
- Sonoran Desert Conference Center · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE: 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 INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE?
- INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE (Arizona) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,049,984 to it, the largest being THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY ($336,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE have?
- IRS filings report 17 organizations giving $1,049,984 in grants to INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE?
- THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY is the largest funder on record, with $336,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like INTERNATIONAL SONORAN DESERT ALLIANCE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arizona. 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 International Sonoran Desert Alliance →
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 17 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