Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 59 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,503,211 to it, the largest being NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ($2,088,230). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.2M
- Funders on record
- 59
- Grants received
- $6.5M
- Net assets
- $274k
What National Wildlife Refuge Association does
Mission
To conserve america's wildlife heritage for future generations through strategic programs that protect and enhance the national wildlife refuge system and the landscapes beyond its boundaries. By combining policy, landscape-scale conservation efforts, grassroots development and public education, the refuge association works to strengthen the ecologocial integrity of our national wildlife refuges, maintaining the diversity of american wildlife and plants for the future
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Conservation constituency- building- the refuge assocaition plays a leadership role in bringing a spectrum of interests together to support conservation action, and specifically the success of the refuge system. The refuge association trains, educates, mentors and organizes refuge friends groups across the country, engages private landowners, ranchers and sportsmen, and works with community groups surrounding urban wildlife refuges. Together these constituent groups form a diverse chorus of voices, which the refuge association brings together to take action in support of wildlife conservation needs.
$329,600 spent50% of program spendingConservation programs- the refuge association supports landscape-scale conservation initiatives that secure the ecological well-being of national wildlife refuges and their surrounding natural systems. The refuge association convenes public and private partner agencies, nonprofits and community members, identifies key challenges and opportunities in ecosystem conservation and helps set common goals, and then works with partners to build community support and secure funding from a variety of sources to accomplish wildlife conservation goals on the ground.
$220,357 spent34% of program spendingCommunication the National Wildlife Refuge Associations communications program is focused on developing and executing branding and marketing strategies to a) communicate programs of the refuge association effectively, b) grow and cultivate the constituency of the national wildlife refuge system of the united states fish and wildlife service, and c) enhance the refuge associations offline and online presence.
$61,214 spent9% of program spendingConservation policy and education- the refuge association mobilizes hundreds of local and national partners to address urgent conservation needs, including funding for the refuge system, loss of vital habitat and natural systems that sustain wildlife refuges, invasive species, and damaging changes in land use. The refuge association chairs a coalition of national environmental, scientific, and sporting groups with a combined membership of more than 15 million people, with the objective of raising awareness of the needs and accomplishments of our national wildlife refuges.
$42,341 spent6% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $653,512.
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 $338k to $659k (+95%).
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: 2017 51% · 2018 34% · 2019 41% · 2020 25% · 2021 19% · 2022 28% · 2023 32% · 2024 21% · 2025 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
89% of NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (74% 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.
Board chair
E Gray Payne
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 23 funders, grant income rose $576k → $690k.
13 of 59 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 45% 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 NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 59 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
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 32% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
84% 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 NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 69% · 2018 72% · 2019 52% · 2020 47% · 2021 47% · 2022 40% · 2023 52% — 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
45% of NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% 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
62% of NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION's grant income comes from Washington, D.C. funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.9M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION's funding base is broadening — from 13 funders to 23 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 813 animals nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.4M on record.
- Department of the Interior$2.4M
- Department of Agriculture$20k
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 NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
61% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
78%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 29 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION: 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 NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION?
- NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 59 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,503,211 to it, the largest being NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ($2,088,230). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION have?
- IRS filings report 59 organizations giving $6,503,211 in grants to NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION, 31 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION?
- NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,088,230 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 59 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