Washington · Nonprofit
NIA TERO FOUNDATION
NIA TERO FOUNDATION (Washington) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $214,633,087 to it, the largest being GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC ($75,061,800). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 67% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $33M
- Funders on record
- 24
- Grants received
- $215M
- Net assets
- $75M
What Nia Tero Foundation does
Mission
Nia tero works alongside indigenous peoples to secure their guardianship of vital ecosystems. Indigenous peoples are guardians of earth.(see schedule o)
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Uphold: place-anchored partnership with indigenous peoples:nia tero is committed to working alongside indigenous peoples in geographies central to the well-being of all humanity. Our initial regions include the pacific islands, amazonia, and north america, where we work with indigenous peoples who share a collective territory and have strong governance systems in place to protect their homelands and waters. In addition to our growing network of partners in regions, we also are partnering on an initiative called the wayfinders circle, a fellowship of 12 initial members from across seven socio-cultural regions with a willingness and capacity to share their vision and experiences to inspire all people to re-imagine development, conservation, and the way we relate to each (continued on schedule o) other and earth. In total, our place-anchored partnerships support indigenous peoples who are guardians of over 100 million hectares of territory.
$22,602,410 spentof which $20,127,199 as grants62% of program spendingExpand: amplification and scaling:in order to expand recognition and support for indigenous guardianship worldwide, nia tero is pursuing three ongoing bodies of work that integrate both our place-anchored partnerships as well indigenous peoples, as well as aligned organizations, networks and initiatives, outside of those partnerships. First, through grantmaking, convening and direct technical support to indigenous peoples and their chosen allies, we provide support to strengthen policy frameworks, security and self-governance of indigenous peoples. Second, through strategic convening and facilitation, as well as targeted grantmaking and fundraising, we are working to increase direct financing for indigenous guardianship. And lastly, through compelling (continued on schedule o) storytelling and communications, we support the elevation of voice, ways and means of indigenous peoples to increase awareness of indigenous guardianship and inspire change.
$10,761,046 spentof which $3,768,922 as grants$63,183 earned by the program29% of program spendingOther program services: all of nia tero's work is done through and with others, from the indigenous peoples who inspire and lead us, to our founding partners and like-minded institutions. Nia tero has been working with regional and global advisors, place-anchored partners, and like-minded institutions to design and develop strategies that will help us achieve our mission.
$2,284,659 spent6% of program spendingScience and learning:nia tero is committed to gathering knowledge that can enable measurement of the impact of our partnerships through both standard social and ecological indicators as well as indicators of well-being defined by our indigenous partners themselves. This includes developing systems that combine traditional environmental metrics with biocultural metrics that are defined and measured by our indigenous partners.
$1,037,441 spent3% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $36,685,556.
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 $4.0M to $149M (+3662%).
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.
94% of NIA TERO FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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
Peter Seligmann
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Joseph Williams
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 9 funders, grant income fell $37M → $32M.
7 of 24 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 67% 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 NIA TERO FOUNDATION’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
NIA TERO FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 35% of grant income and the top three 73%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
68% 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 NIA TERO FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 54% · 2019 68% · 2020 82% · 2021 45% · 2022 48% · 2023 67% — 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.
How long its funders stay
43% of NIA TERO FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% 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
67% of NIA TERO FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $70M that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Washington, across 9 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $145M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
NIA TERO FOUNDATION has grown faster than three-quarters of the 329 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 329 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like NIA TERO 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 Washington
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
64%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 6 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NIA TERO 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 NIA TERO FOUNDATION?
- NIA TERO FOUNDATION (Washington) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $214,633,087 to it, the largest being GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC ($75,061,800). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 67% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does NIA TERO FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 24 organizations giving $214,633,087 in grants to NIA TERO FOUNDATION, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NIA TERO FOUNDATION?
- GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $75,061,800 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NIA TERO FOUNDATION 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 24 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