Utah · Nonprofit
MULE DEER FOUNDATION
MULE DEER FOUNDATION (Utah) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,902,100 to it, the largest being NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ($3,284,157). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $33M
- Funders on record
- 40
- Grants received
- $5.9M
- Net assets
- $5.5M
What Mule Deer Foundation does
Mission
Wildlife conservation, habitat revitalization and enhancementprojects, sponsor hunter education clinics and special projects,production and distribution of foundation magazine to membership andgeneral public. Develop habitat stewardship and youth programs.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Membership support services provided by the organization represent the benefits provided to all Mule Deer Foundation members. The organization offers multiple memberships with different benefits at each level. Mebmers recieve educational material and are invided to support our local and national projects by attending chapter and national events held throughout the year. The western hunting and conservation expo is an annual convention that includes vendors and outfitters displaying and selling their prodcuts. In conjunction with this there are educational seminars and meetings held regarding conservation. These meetings are held with members, volunteers and state and federal partners.
$16,238,410 spent50% of program spendingThe Mule Deer Foundation works closely with its members and partners to facilitate the rehabilitation of mule deer, black-tailed deer, and their habitat. The organization accomplishes their mission through wildlife habitat conservation, revitalization, and enchancement projects. Projects that the organization are invloved in include, but are not limited to, water installation (I.e. Guzzlers), juniper removal, reseeding, and rehabilitation of forage for deer species.
$15,909,349 spent49% of program spendingProduction and distribution of organization publication of mule deerfoundation magazine to membership and general public. This magazinecontains numerous articles on wildlife habitat conservation and ways torevitalize and enhance natural habitat. This magazine is given away.
$276,052 spent1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $32,423,811.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 2023 to 2024, from $7.5M to $10M (+39%).
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.
3% of MULE DEER FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Chief executive
Gregory Sheehan
CEO
Board chair
Jordan Davis
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $97k → $1.6M.
9 of 40 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% 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 MULE DEER FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 40 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
MULE DEER FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 56% of grant income and the top three 79%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
89% 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 MULE DEER FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 41% · 2018 45% · 2019 54% · 2020 45% · 2021 74% · 2022 58% · 2023 38% — 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.
How long its funders stay
28% of MULE DEER 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
MULE DEER FOUNDATION draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside Utah, across 19 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $756k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
MULE DEER FOUNDATION has grown faster than half of the 119 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 119 animals nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding MULE DEER FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $93.4M on record.
- Department of Agriculture$87.6M
- Department of the Interior$5.8M
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 MULE DEER 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 Utah
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
98% 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 16 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MULE DEER 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 MULE DEER FOUNDATION?
- MULE DEER FOUNDATION (Utah) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,902,100 to it, the largest being NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ($3,284,157). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MULE DEER FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 40 organizations giving $5,902,100 in grants to MULE DEER FOUNDATION, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MULE DEER FOUNDATION?
- NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,284,157 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MULE DEER FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Utah. 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 Mule Deer →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2018–2025), and the filings of 40 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