Washington · Nonprofit
NEARZERO
NEARZERO (Washington) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,088,900 to it, the largest being FRIES FAMILY FOUNDATION ($830,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2020
- $807
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $1.1M
- Net assets
- $57k
What Nearzero does
Mission
The organization's mission is to mitigate anthropogenic climate change through scientific inquiry and by serving as a source of information for scientifically grounded policy decisions.
As stated on its FY2020 Form 990-EZ.
Program
Nearzero spent funds on research and analysis as well as website infrastructure and software development to support our mission of serving as a source of information for scientifically grounded policy decisions, with a focus on mitigation of anthropogenic climate change. Nearzero evaluated strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ultimately reaching the goal of reducing carbon emissions from energy production of all forms to near zero. Through our website and reports, Nearzero disseminated this information to those who make and influence energy- related decisions in business, government, and ngo's.
The first program described on its most recent Form 990-EZ.
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 2019 to 2020, from $108k to $57k (−47%).
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.
99% of NEARZERO’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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 → 2019: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $571k → $100k.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 10% 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 NEARZERO’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
NEARZERO leans on a few funders — its largest provides 76% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 81% · 2018 64% · 2019 100% — 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.
Where its funders are
85% of NEARZERO's grant income comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $109k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
NEARZERO's revenue fell 100% between 2017 and 2020.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,192 public benefit nonprofits under $100k, FY2020
Organizations like NEARZERO
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
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
63%
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 NEARZERO: 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 NEARZERO?
- NEARZERO (Washington) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,088,900 to it, the largest being FRIES FAMILY FOUNDATION ($830,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does NEARZERO have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $1,088,900 in grants to NEARZERO, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NEARZERO?
- FRIES FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $830,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NEARZERO find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington. 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 FY2020 (financials across 2017–2020), and the filings of 3 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