California · Nonprofit
LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER
LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER (California) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,514,212 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($1,730,831). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.1M
- Funders on record
- 43
- Grants received
- $3.5M
- Net assets
- $1.3M
What Living Coast Discovery Center does
Mission
We inspire the community to connect with and care for our coastal environment. Our vision is a thriving natural coast through engaged conservation. Our mission is served through programs such as the living lab field trip, immersing students in outdoor exploration and their natural surroundings on the sd bay national wildlife refuge.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
When students visit the living coast for a field trip, they instantly connect with wildlife native to southern california, creating memorable experiences that leave a lasting impression. Annually, about 70,000 visitors of all ages visit the living coast, including 25,000 students prek-12 for school programs. In addition to school programs, the living coast hosts seasonal wildlife day camps, educational events in the community, and compost workshops. The living coast has collaborated with scientific partners dedicated to the study, restoration and reintroduction of light footed ridgways rails in southern california. Loss and degradation of habitat threaten the existence of this state and federally listed endangered shorebird, the light footed ridgways rails rallus obsoletus levipes, that can be only found in coastal salt marches of southern california and baja california, mexico. Since 2001, 385 rails have been produced and raised at the living coast, and recently the 1,000th rail was released into the wild by team clapper rail. We are proud of the dedicated volunteers and docents who spend their valuable time working tirelessly to support all areas of the organization.…
$1,869,697 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,869,697.
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 2020 to 2021, from $1.1M to $2.3M (+103%).
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: 2023 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
53% of LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (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.
Chief executive
Benedict Vallejos
Executive director
Board chair
Sara Giobbi
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 16 funders, grant income rose $217k → $472k.
8 of 43 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 56% 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 LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 43 funders by total. 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
LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 49% of grant income and the top three 70%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
57% 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 LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 35% · 2018 74% · 2019 95% · 2020 36% · 2021 24% · 2022 69% · 2023 50% — 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 LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 51% 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
56% of LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER'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 $1.5M that is directly attributable, 78% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $3.5M to it.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,209 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $819k on record.
- Department of the Interior$769k
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$50k
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 LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER
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
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
90%
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 LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER: 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 LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER?
- LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER (California) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,514,212 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($1,730,831). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 43 organizations giving $3,514,212 in grants to LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER, 22 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER?
- THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,730,831 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LIVING COAST DISCOVERY CENTER 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 Living Coast Discovery Center →
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 43 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing