Colorado · Nonprofit
Lao Elephant Initiative
Lao Elephant Initiative (Colorado) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $146,780 to it, the largest being PAYPAL CHARITABLE GIVING FUND ($66,701). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 95% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2018
- $78k
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $147k
- Net assets
- $2k
What Lao Elephant Initiative does
Mission
The mission of Lao Elephant Initiative is to promote the wellbeing of Asian elephants through education, community partnership, and innovative conservation strategies. Our projects focus on a range of conservation and environmental initiatives, including our captive elephant welfare project, and our support of wild elephant populations in Nam Poui National Biodiversity Conservation Area (NBCA).
As stated on its FY2018 Form 990-EZ.
Program
Lao Elephant initiative granted funds for the protection of 3,750 hectares (9,266 acres) of forest in Nam Poui Natural Biodiversity Conservation Area where one of the last viable populations of wild elephants remains in Lao Peoples Democratic Republic; launched an Asian elephant welfare information campaign; collaborated with conservation organizations in Lao Peoples Democratic Republic to identify effective conservation strategies for Nam Poui Natural Biodiversity Conservation Area.
The first program described on its most recent Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $11k → $57k.
5 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 95% 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 Lao Elephant Initiative’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
Lao Elephant Initiative leans on a few funders — its largest provides 45% of grant income and the top three 88%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
100% 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 Lao Elephant Initiative.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 71% · 2020 100% · 2021 99% · 2022 100% · 2023 88% — 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.
Where its funders are
95% of Lao Elephant Initiative'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 $7k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Colorado, across 1 state.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $140k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
Lao Elephant Initiative runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 8,383 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 8,383 human services nonprofits under $100k, FY2018
Organizations like Lao Elephant Initiative
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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Lao Elephant Initiative: 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 Lao Elephant Initiative?
- Lao Elephant Initiative (Colorado) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $146,780 to it, the largest being PAYPAL CHARITABLE GIVING FUND ($66,701). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 95% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Lao Elephant Initiative have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $146,780 in grants to Lao Elephant Initiative, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Lao Elephant Initiative?
- PAYPAL CHARITABLE GIVING FUND is the largest funder on record, with $66,701 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Lao Elephant Initiative find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. 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 Lao Elephant Initiative →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2018 (financials across 2018–2018), and the filings of 6 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