California · Nonprofit
San Diego Parks Foundation
San Diego Parks Foundation (California) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,240,690 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($1,651,990). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 50% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.9M
- Funders on record
- 43
- Grants received
- $4.2M
- Net assets
- $347k
What San Diego Parks Foundation does
Mission
To improve the quality of life of communities throughout the city of San Diego through equitable investments in parks, greenspace, and recreational opportunities.Vison - Every San Diegan has access to quality recreational facilities as part of a safe, healthy, resilient, and thriving community.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
COME PLAY OUTSIDE AND PARKS AFTER DARK Come Play Outside was launched in 2021 and Parks After Dark was added in 2022. These programs provide summer recreational experiences to thousands of youth and families in San Diego. The expanded program served more than 46,000 people in 2022. In 2024, Parks After Dark once again served 46,000, and our summer camp programming and year-round enhancements through Come Play Outside served more than 16,000 youth.
$1,000,491 spent$45,440 earned by the program52% of program spendingURBAN FORESTRY & GREENINGGrowing the urban canopy by planting trees helps reduce pollutant run-off, mitigates climate change, and enhances safety and enjoyment. More than 350 trees have been planted. Other initiatives, include establishing the first program garden and the first community garden in a city park were completed in 2024.
$596,842 spent31% of program spendingGeneral ProgramsThe San Diego Parks Foundation (SDPF) was established in 2018 to support park facilities and programs. SDPFs vision is every San Diegan has access to quality recreational facilities as part of a safe, healthy, resilient, and thriving community. SDPFs mission is to improve the quality of life of communities throughout San Diego through equitable investments in parks, greenspace, and outdoor recreational opportunities. SDPFs offers three pillars of support: Activating Public Spaces, Investing and Beautifying Park Facilities, and has become a leading local voice in advocating for adopting and changing park policies that have contributed to reducing systemic inequities.
$224,365 spent12% of program spendingPARK AMBASSADOR PROGRAMThe Park Ambassador program is a youth leadership initiative that provides participating young adults 16-24 the opportunity to learn and prepare for careers in public service, gain valuable leadership skills, build their resume and career path and make life-long connections. The program launched in April 2022 and a total of 124 youth have graduated the program.
$93,233 spent5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,914,931.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 $799k to $502k (−37%).
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: 2020 11% · 2022 9% · 2023 4% · 2024 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
102% of San Diego Parks Foundation’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (13% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 6 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
Leona Sublett
President & CEO
Board chair
Juan Carlos Hernandez
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 18 funders, grant income rose $2k → $843k.
10 of 43 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 50% 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 Parks Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 43 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 Parks Foundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 39% of grant income and the top three 62%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
59% 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 Parks Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 29% · 2021 48% · 2022 32% · 2023 39% — 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
40% of San Diego Parks Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 49% 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
50% of San Diego Parks 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 $2.1M that is directly attributable, 88% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.1M 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 Parks Foundation has grown faster than three-quarters of the 2,732 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,732 recreation & sports nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like San Diego Parks 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
87% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
77%
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 San Diego Parks 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 San Diego Parks Foundation?
- San Diego Parks Foundation (California) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,240,690 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($1,651,990). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 50% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does San Diego Parks Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 43 organizations giving $4,240,690 in grants to San Diego Parks Foundation, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of San Diego Parks Foundation?
- THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,651,990 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like San Diego Parks Foundation 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 FY2024 (financials across 2019–2024), and the filings of 43 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