California · Nonprofit
SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER
SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER (California) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,577,127 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($1,018,605). 27 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 60% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.3M
- Funders on record
- 45
- Grants received
- $4.6M
- Net assets
- $2.6M
What San Diego Coastkeeper does
Mission
San Diego Coastkeeper (organization) is a california nonprofit public benefit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring fishable, swimmable and drinakable water in san diego county.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Advocacy-urging regulatory agencies and commissions as well as state, county and local governments, the organization advocates for stricter storm water and urban runoff regulations, compliance with the clean water act and other environmental and land use laws, and enhanced coastal protection and restoration. The organization advocates for solutions to the drinking water supply for san diego county. Advocacy includes policy development and promotion as well as litigation.
$457,670 spentof which $564,679 as grants$31,900 earned by the program45% of program spendingEducation-the organization's educational lessons and water education are available for all educators(formal and informal) to help k-12 grade students in san diego gain a better understanding of the local ecologyand water issues. Students develop a sense of stewardship and knowledge of specific actions they can take to protect san diego habitats and water. Additionally, project swell classroom presentations, teacher training and supplies are provided to all san diego unified elementary schools. The organization reaches thousands of students and citizens at schools and public outreach events, and train hundreds of teachers to help them implement these environmental education lessons each year.
$299,308 spentof which $279,608 as grants$63,880 earned by the program29% of program spendingMonitoring-the organizationmonitors water quality throughout the region. This includes riversand streams, as well as polluted runoff from construction sites, scrap yards and any other industrial site. When polluted discharges are out of compliance with state and federal water laws, the organization initiates litigtion against violators.
$268,419 spentof which $121,558 as grants$63,800 earned by the program26% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,025,397.
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 2023 to 2024, from $2.4M to $2.9M (+22%).
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 12% · 2018 18% · 2019 22% · 2020 18% · 2021 24% · 2022 12% · 2023 25% · 2024 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Matt O'Malley
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 15 funders, grant income fell $579k → $225k.
11 of 45 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 60% 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 SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 45 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
SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
74% 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 SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 28% · 2018 42% · 2019 53% · 2020 41% · 2021 41% · 2022 41% · 2023 36% — 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
45% of SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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
60% of SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER'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 $1.8M that is directly attributable, 78% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,187 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,187 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER
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
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER: 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 SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER?
- SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER (California) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,577,127 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($1,018,605). 27 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 60% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER have?
- IRS filings report 45 organizations giving $4,577,127 in grants to SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER, 27 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER?
- THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,018,605 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER 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.
Play a game about who funds San Diego Coastkeeper →
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 45 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