California · Nonprofit
PLACER LAND TRUST
PLACER LAND TRUST (California) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,634,221 to it, the largest being SKY VIEW FOUNDATION ($1,777,851). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $30M
- Funders on record
- 22
- Grants received
- $3.6M
- Net assets
- $119M
What Placer Land Trust does
Mission
Placer Land Trust works with willing landowners and conservation partners to permanently protect and care for natural and agricultural lands in Placer County for current and future generations.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Land Conservation and Protection The primary mission of Placer Land Trust (PLT) is to protect agricultural and natural lands in the Placer County region for public benefit through the acquisition and stewardship of land and conservation easements. During this fiscal year, PLT successfully protected an additional 308 acres, increasing the total land protected to 22,386 acres. These accomplishments reflect PLTs commitment to safeguarding vital landscapes for the benefit of current and future generations.
$1,344,073 spent$517,606 earned by the program14% of program spendingPlacer Land Trust actively manages the properties it owns to ensure public benefits are preserved now and for future generations in perpetuity. When feasible we work to enhance the public value of these properties by restoring wildlife habitats, controlling non-native invasive species, reducing fuel loads, improving public access, and more. For example, we own vernal pool and wetland preserves in western Placer County, including Doty Ravine Preserve and Swainsons Grassland Preserves. On these properties we protect endangered species, manage invasive species, restore and enhance wetland and upland habitat, reduce fuel loads, and conduct educational tours. Additionally, we protect agricultural lands from urban sprawl, ensuring that viable, productive farmland remains available in perpetuity to support regional, community, and national food needs.
$8,477,547 spent85% of program spendingCommunity Engagement Placer Land Trust recognizes the significant health and quality-of-life benefits associated with time spent in nature. To promote outdoor access and engagement, in addition to acquisition and protection, we focus on creating opportunities for the public to enjoy our preserves. Key activities include (a) Building and Maintaining Trails - Trails are designed and maintained for hiking, running, mountain biking, and horseback riding; (b) Volunteer-Led Hikes and Tours - Docents guide recreational and educational hikes and tours to encourage public connection with nature; (c) Collaborative Partnerships - We work with various partners including recreational and outdoor education organizations to provide diverse public experiences; (d) Land Stewardship Activities - Community members participate in activities such as invasive species removal (e.g., Scotch broom clearing), tree planting, fuel reduction, and trail maintenance. Our outreach efforts, led primarily by volunteers with staff and board oversight, are inclusive and designed to engage people of all ages. We emphasize reaching traditionally underserved populations to ensure equitable access to nature and its…
$130,598 spent1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $9,952,218.
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 2024 to 2025, from $104M to $123M (+18%).
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: 2019 30% · 2021 2% · 2023 3% · 2024 32% · 2025 37%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
89% of PLACER LAND TRUST’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. 0 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
Jeff Darlington
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $109k → $453k.
8 of 22 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 28% 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 PLACER LAND TRUST’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
PLACER LAND TRUST leans on a few funders — its largest provides 49% of grant income and the top three 70%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
29% 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 PLACER LAND TRUST.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 33% · 2018 83% · 2019 46% · 2020 37% · 2021 38% · 2022 69% · 2023 34% — broadly stable.
“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
100% of PLACER LAND TRUST's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 73% 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
PLACER LAND TRUST draws 74% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
PLACER LAND TRUST runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 195 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 195 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like PLACER LAND TRUST
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
94% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
74%
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 PLACER LAND TRUST: 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 PLACER LAND TRUST?
- PLACER LAND TRUST (California) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,634,221 to it, the largest being SKY VIEW FOUNDATION ($1,777,851). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PLACER LAND TRUST have?
- IRS filings report 22 organizations giving $3,634,221 in grants to PLACER LAND TRUST, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PLACER LAND TRUST?
- SKY VIEW FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,777,851 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PLACER LAND TRUST 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 22 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