California · Nonprofit
Santa Ana Watershed Association
Santa Ana Watershed Association (California) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $41,340 to it, the largest being Inland Empire Community Foundation ($41,340). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.0M
- Funders on record
- 1
- Grants received
- $41k
- Net assets
- $3.4M
What Santa Ana Watershed Association does
Mission
The Santa Ana River Watershed Association SAWA develops, coordinates and implements natural resource programs that support a sustainable ecosystem and social benefits from the San Bernardino Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. SAWA is committed to the protection and improvement of areas within the Santa Ana River watershed. Major FOCI of SAWA are the removal of invasive species, which is a significant problem throughout the watershed, native habitat enhancement and the protection of endangered and threatened species.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Biological monitoring - SAWA biologists play an active role in the watershed program. Biologists monitor invasive removal projects to protect both endangered and more common wildlife species. They actively manage field projects involving avian, herpetological and mammal populations. They also manage a monitoring program for the endangered Least Bell's Vireo that includes surveys, nest monitoring and Brown-headed Cowbird management: 42 traps were deployed, in which 1,572 Cowbirds were removed over 3,162 trap days.
$2,455,581 spent$2,866,713 earned by the program71% of program spendingInvasive plant and animal removal-habitat restoration, primarily through Arundo control, is the current central focus of the watershed program. The endangered species work and other wildlife monitoring is necessary for compliance with regulatory permits. SAWA conducted on-going maintenance and control of non-native species on over 6,957 acres of habitat. In addition, .8 acres of habitat were actively planted, restored and managed by SAWA.
$980,877 spent$914,691 earned by the program29% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,436,458.
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 $6.5M to $5.1M (−21%).
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: 2021 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
0% of Santa Ana Watershed Association’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue 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. 7 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
Brian J Brady
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
1 of 1 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 Santa Ana Watershed Association’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.
Where its funders are
100% of Santa Ana Watershed Association'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. Too little is directly attributable to place on a map.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $41k 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
Santa Ana Watershed Association has grown faster than half of the 2,186 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,186 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding Santa Ana Watershed Association receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.0M on record.
- Department of the Interior$3.0M
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Santa Ana Watershed Association
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
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
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 Santa Ana Watershed Association: 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 Santa Ana Watershed Association?
- Santa Ana Watershed Association (California) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $41,340 to it, the largest being Inland Empire Community Foundation ($41,340). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Santa Ana Watershed Association have?
- IRS filings report 1 organization giving $41,340 in grants to Santa Ana Watershed Association.
- Who is the largest funder of Santa Ana Watershed Association?
- Inland Empire Community Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $41,340 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Santa Ana Watershed Association 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 2017–2024), and the filings of 1 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