California · Nonprofit
NATUREBRIDGE
NATUREBRIDGE (California) receives grants from 154 organizations whose IRS filings report $20,937,758 to it, the largest being ESB CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($3,618,205). 95 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $22M
- Funders on record
- 154
- Grants received
- $21M
- Net assets
- $16M
What Naturebridge does
Mission
To connect young people to the wonder and science of the natural world, igniting self-discovery and inspiring stewardship of our planet.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Naturebridge connects young people to the wonder and science of the natural world, igniting self-discovery and inspiring stewardship of our planet. We deliver hands-on outdoor education programs in some of the world's most beautiful classrooms-our national parks. Founded in 1971, our campuses are located in yosemite national park, golden gate national recreation area, olympic national park, and prince william forest park.Naturebridge's school & group education programs take young people out of the classroom and into the outdoors for multi-day immersive experiences, helping students create lasting connections with themselves, their peers, and the natural world. With children immersed in the outdoors, scientific principles are brought to life and inspire both in-depth learning and a lifelong connection to nature. Each program is customized to meet individual school groups' academic needs and align with state/national science standards. Optional pre- and post-program classroom visits from Naturebridge educators enable teachers to deepen the impact of the Naturebridge experience throughout and beyond the academic school year.Naturebridge provides outdoor education programs to a…
$17,365,832 spentof which $1,181,680 as grants$17,978,178 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $17,365,832.
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 2021 to 2022, from $44M to $18M (−58%).
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 0% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 0% · 2021 28% · 2022 20% · 2023 1% · 2024 0% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
19% of NATUREBRIDGE’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Phillip Kilbridge
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 43 funders to 59 funders, grant income fell $3.2M → $1.6M.
24 of 154 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 31% 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 NATUREBRIDGE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 154 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
NATUREBRIDGE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
36% 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 NATUREBRIDGE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 39% · 2018 43% · 2019 32% · 2020 25% · 2021 19% · 2022 23% · 2023 15% — 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
43% of NATUREBRIDGE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
74% of NATUREBRIDGE's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $6.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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
NATUREBRIDGE is better cushioned than half of the 210 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 210 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding NATUREBRIDGE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $297k on record.
- Department of the Interior$297k
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 NATUREBRIDGE
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
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Presidio Environmental Institute · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NATUREBRIDGE: 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 NATUREBRIDGE?
- NATUREBRIDGE (California) receives grants from 154 organizations whose IRS filings report $20,937,758 to it, the largest being ESB CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($3,618,205). 95 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does NATUREBRIDGE have?
- IRS filings report 154 organizations giving $20,937,758 in grants to NATUREBRIDGE, 95 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NATUREBRIDGE?
- ESB CHARITABLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,618,205 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NATUREBRIDGE 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 154 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