California · Nonprofit
LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION
LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 84 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,060,018 to it, the largest being LA CLIPPERS FOUNDATION ($16,365,000). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.1M
- Funders on record
- 84
- Grants received
- $23M
- Net assets
- $5.6M
What Los Angeles Parks Foundation does
Mission
To enhance, expand, preserve and promote public recreation, parks and open space for the diverse people of los angeles.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The Los Angeles Parks Foundation's Special Projects Program funds are used to support a range of activities ranging from the design and implementation of major capital improvements, such as new multi-sport playing fields or playgrounds, to recreational programming. In 2024, construction of the Watts Skate Park was completed with support from The Skateboard Project, and a park forest was planted with support by Wells Fargo Bank at the Hansen Dam Recreation Center. Such funds are also used in support of citywide and special initiatives of the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. The Foundation serves as a fiscal and administrative partner for funders such as Nike, ESPN, and other corporate or philanthropic institutions that invest in recreation programs including PlayLA, Girls Play LA, and CoachLA. Grants from the Griffith J. Griffith Charitable Trust were used to support the Hollywoodland Girls and Boys Camps, and funds from GPSN and other institutional donors were also used to support summer programming offered in City of Los Angeles parks. The Foundation ensures such funds are stewarded in accordance with donor intent and City partnership requirements and that…
$1,417,580 spentof which $246,400 as grants79% of program spendingThe Park Events Program has historically funded park enhancement projects in partnership with the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. In prior years, this program supported initiatives such as a Griffith Park traffic study and the development of the department's multi-year strategic plan. As of 2024, most event-related revenue is used to support the Foundation's general operating activities or, when event proceeds are designated for particular sites or projects, such revenue is allocated to the respective project under the Friends of the Parks program.
$140,237 spent8% of program spendingThe Friends of the Parks Program empowers local communities to support their neighborhood parks by contributing directly to funds managed by the foundation to support individual park projects and priorities. Activities supported by these funds include youth sports equipment and uniforms; holiday celebrations; seniors sports and cultural programs; and enhancements to park spaces such as fencing, water fountains, and walking paths. In 2024, the program supported meaningful improvements and community programming at several Los Angeles park locations, including EXPO Center, Venice Beach, Rustic Canyon, MacArthur Park, and Echo Park.
$136,223 spentof which $9,400 as grants8% of program spendingOther programs - see schedule o description
$89,408 spent5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,783,448.
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 2017 to 2018, from $3.5M to $11M (+206%).
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: 2019 18% · 2021 1% · 2022 2% · 2023 4% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (13% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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.
Board chair
David Nickoll
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 23 funders to 22 funders, grant income rose $635k → $2.4M.
13 of 84 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% 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 LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 84 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
LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 71% of grant income and the top three 77%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
85% 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 LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 56% · 2018 91% · 2019 54% · 2020 26% · 2021 73% · 2022 46% · 2023 85% — 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
25% of LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 43% 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
LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION draws 80% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 11 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,732 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,732 recreation & sports nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION
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
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
74%
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 LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION: 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 LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION?
- LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 84 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,060,018 to it, the largest being LA CLIPPERS FOUNDATION ($16,365,000). 36 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 84 organizations giving $23,060,018 in grants to LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION, 36 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION?
- LA CLIPPERS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $16,365,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION 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.
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 84 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