Maryland · Nonprofit
Nature Forward
Nature Forward (Maryland) receives grants from 76 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,382,741 to it, the largest being Ruth McC Tankersley Charitable Fnd ($690,000). 46 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.9M
- Funders on record
- 76
- Grants received
- $6.4M
- Net assets
- $15M
What Nature Forward does
Mission
Nature Forward inspires residents of the DC area to appreciate, understand, and protect their natural environment through outdoor experiences, education and advocacy, and creates a larger and more diverse community of people who treasure the natural world and work to preserve it.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Environmental Education Nature Forwards educational mission is to nurture a lifetime of outdoor discovery, exploration and stewardship of nature for people in the Washington, DC metro region. The Organization connects with individuals and groups of all ages to create a community of people who actively care for the natural world. Through our children and youth programs we reach more than 14,000 children each year with classroom visits, school field trips, afterschool programs, a licensed preschool, and summer camps. Our GreenKids program partners with public schools in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties in Maryland, Loudon County in Virginia and the District of Columbia to foster a culture of environmental stewardship in schools and provide professional development to teachers. Our continuing education programs educate and train more than 2,000 adults annually in natural history and conservation topics. Our outreach programs work to reach families in their communitiesnear where people live, work, and go to schooland connect them to nearby nature through engaging, hands-on activities and trainings. We work with community leaders, partner organizations, and empowered community…
$1,883,582 spentof which $58,519 as grants39% of program spendingSanctuaries Nature Forward maintains two nature sanctuaries: our headquarters 40-acre Woodend Sanctuary in Chevy Chase, MD and our 68-acre Rust Sanctuary in Leesburg, VA. The Organization provides free public access to our sanctuaries and invites people to enjoy our trails, including a new wheelchair accessible trail at Woodend. The sanctuaries protect critical wildlife habitats in the DC metro region and provide opportunities for people to discover and appreciate the natural world through self-guided and naturalist-led experiences. The sanctuaries educate people of all ages and abilities about environmental stewardship, serve as gathering places for environmental classes and provide a hub for organizations working to preserve the quality of the environment in the Washington, DC area. The Organization actively works to restore the habitats at its nature sanctuaries.
$1,572,020 spent32% of program spendingThe Organization has the annual support of more than 1,884 active member households representing approximately 5,000 individuals in the DC metro region. Members participate in environmental education programs, support conservation programs through grassroots advocacy and environmental stewardship, restore habitats, and provide volunteer support in many capacities. Annually, more than 330 people volunteer for the Organization by serving on the Board of Directors and its committees, monitoring the water quality of local streams, maintaining and restoring Nature Forward sanctuaries, leading nature education programs, representing Nature Forward at community events, supporting office functions, and testifying at public hearings.
$723,945 spentof which $2,201 as grants15% of program spendingThe Nature Forward conservation program works to promote healthy communities for people and wildlife through advocacy and policy across four priority areas in the DC Metro Region: human health & access to nature; biodiversity & habitats; the climate crisis; and sustainable land use. The Organizations conservation outreach brings community members together to collect data on local flora, fauna and stream health and then uses that data to advocate for preservation of our regions special natural places. Each year we train and mobilize thousands of people to take action as monitors, stewards and advocates of our precious environment. Through our advocacy Action Network, more than 6,000 people learn about and take grassroots action with the Organization annually to protect nature in the DC region.
$701,505 spentof which $26,811 as grants14% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,881,052.
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 2018 to 2019, from $9.1M to $14M (+49%).
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 18% · 2022 17%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
64% of Nature Forward’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Alison Pearce
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 30 funders, grant income rose $347k → $1.1M.
12 of 76 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 18% 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 Nature Forward’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 76 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
Nature Forward has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 11% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
41% 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 Nature Forward.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 28% · 2018 34% · 2019 25% · 2020 32% · 2021 16% · 2022 14% · 2023 21% — 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
47% of Nature Forward's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% 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
51% of Nature Forward's grant income comes from Maryland funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
Nature Forward's funding base is broadening — from 14 funders to 30 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,074 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding Nature Forward receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.6M on record.
- Department of Agriculture$1.6M
- Department of the Interior$50k
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$25k
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 Nature Forward
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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Nature Forward: 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 Nature Forward?
- Nature Forward (Maryland) receives grants from 76 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,382,741 to it, the largest being Ruth McC Tankersley Charitable Fnd ($690,000). 46 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Nature Forward have?
- IRS filings report 76 organizations giving $6,382,741 in grants to Nature Forward, 46 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Nature Forward?
- Ruth McC Tankersley Charitable Fnd is the largest funder on record, with $690,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Nature Forward find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 Nature Forward →
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 76 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