California · Nonprofit
MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY
MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY (California) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $580,601 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SAN LUIS OBISPO ($211,224). 8 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 FY2024
- $192k
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $581k
- Net assets
- $3.2M
What Morro Coast Audubon Society does
Mission
To promote the appreciation, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems, focusing on the biological diversity of birds, other wildlife, and their habitats, particularly in san luis obispo county, california.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Sweet springs nature preserve: 32+ acres located off ramona avenue in the town of los osos, has been owned, managed, and by the Morro Coast Audubon Society since 1989. The preserve offers hiking trails, beautiful views of morro bay and morro rock, and excellent birding opportunities open to the public.
$52,935 spent$34,865 earned by the program47% of program spendingEducational programs like "feather and biyn" engage students of different ages in hands-on environmental learning. Feather (fostering environmental awareness through high school education and research) is a transdisciplinary program for high school students that combines science, research, college-readiness skills, and bird studies to promote conservation awareness and real-world citizen science experiences. Biyn (birds in your neighborhood) introduces 3rd and 4th graders across san luis obispo county to local bird species through interactive lessons on topics like nests, feathers, and taxidermy, followed by guided bird walks where students use binocularsoften for the first timeto identify birds around their schoolyards. Over 1350+ students participant every year.
$36,875 spent$26,559 earned by the program32% of program spendingHi mountain condor lookout: a field research facility which monitors movements of the endangered california condor population and conducts.
$13,777 spent$15,054 earned by the program12% of program spendingField trips: offering 6 to 8 free field trips a month to birding hotspots throughout slo county. These trips are led by experienced leaders who enjoy sharing their knowledge and their love of birds with other interested birders. Two of the monthly trips are usually designated as members only. Upwards of 850 people participate annually.
$5,250 spent$1,745 earned by the program5% of program spendingHoliday bird count: the mb count is conducted within a circle, 15 miles in diameter. The circle is divided into 54 sectors. Many counters are needed to achieve a good count and maintain mcas' high and nationally accredited ranking. Our success in the national ranking has been the result of having lots of people in the field.
$4,921 spent4% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $113,758.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 $2.7M to $3.0M (+9%).
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: 2021 11% · 2023 11%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
43% of MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY’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. 0 of the last 4 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 held at 3 funders, grant income rose $18k → $30k.
5 of 10 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 MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY’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
MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 36% 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
99% 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 MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 54% · 2018 99% · 2019 98% · 2020 88% · 2021 75% · 2022 77% · 2023 66% — 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
29% of MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 80% 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 MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY'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 $258k that is directly attributable, 83% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $323k 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
MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY has grown faster than three-quarters of the 4,264 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,264 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Government funding MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $7k on record.
- Department of the Interior$7k
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 MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY
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
69% 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
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY: 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 MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY?
- MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY (California) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $580,601 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SAN LUIS OBISPO ($211,224). 8 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 MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $580,601 in grants to MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY?
- THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SAN LUIS OBISPO is the largest funder on record, with $211,224 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MORRO COAST AUDUBON SOCIETY 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 Morro Coast Audubon Society →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2021–2024), and the filings of 10 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