California · Nonprofit
SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN
SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN (California) receives grants from 111 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,757,397 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($1,478,949). 80 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $13M
- Funders on record
- 111
- Grants received
- $14M
- Net assets
- $41M
What Santa Barbara Botanic Garden does
Mission
To conserve native plants and habitats for the health and well-being of people and our planet.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The horticulture program curates, installs, and maintains the garden's living collection, which encompasses 78 acres of native plants drawn from california's floristic province, as well as historic landmarks and features dating back to 1806. The program ensures guests experience seasonal wildflower displays, ecosystem-themed sections from desert to redwood groves, and gardens that celebrate california's taxonomic diversity, from rare species to iconic fixtures such as the golden poppy. Newer garden exhibits explore "planting with purpose" themes such as water conservation, attracting wildlife, and home demonstration gardening. Program staff also manage two plant nurseries - one open to the public, and one supporting conservation and the regeneration of the living collection.
$2,441,159 spent$1,098,454 earned by the program34% of program spendingWith native plants and habitats at its core, the conservation and research program focuses on solutions to today's complex conservation challenges - from genes to ecosystems. With a team of scientists, technicians, partners, and budding conservation leaders, the program works collaboratively to understand, protect, and restore california's diverse botanic ecosystems. In response, the team produces essential plant inventories and research, safeguards endangered plant species, and works to restore entire food webs, while securing and maintaining collections that inform and support recovery.
$3,544,631 spent$1,393,661 earned by the program49% of program spendingThe education program at the garden supports the mission of conserving california's native plants by providing meaningful experiences in nature. The garden grounds offer a unique outdoor classroom whose diverse collections provide a backdrop for programs. By engaging our community with onsite interpretation of our living collections and a wide variety of public programs on and off site, we facilitate connections to the natural world and foster love for native plants. Transformative youth programs include school tours, summer programs for students ages five to 10, and ongoing opportunities through our 4.5 acre children's garden, "the backcountry". These programs are designed to align with the california common core state standards, california environmental education initiative & next-generation science standards.
$845,625 spent$192,447 earned by the program12% of program spendingGarden shop: to support individual engagement in horticulture, conservation and the love of nature by selling plants, books, maps, garden publications, educational tools and related products, thereby generating appreciation and knowledge of the plant and natural sciences.
$368,492 spent$343,506 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,199,907.
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 2021 to 2022, from $41M to $38M (−8%).
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% · 2021 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
57% of SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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
Steven Windhager
Executive director
Board chair
Mark Funk
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 21 funders to 63 funders, grant income rose $385k → $1.7M.
18 of 111 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 42% 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 BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 111 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
SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 11% of grant income, and it takes 8 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 8 funders to its left
44% 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 SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 17% · 2018 61% · 2019 23% · 2020 34% · 2021 14% · 2022 19% · 2023 15% — 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
58% of SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 72% 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
55% of SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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
SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 329 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 329 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $5.9M on record.
- Department of the Interior$3.3M
- Department of Defense$1.5M
- Department of Agriculture$819k
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$289k
- National Science Foundation$46k
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 BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN
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
73% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
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 BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN: 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 BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN?
- SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN (California) receives grants from 111 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,757,397 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($1,478,949). 80 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN have?
- IRS filings report 111 organizations giving $13,757,397 in grants to SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN, 80 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,478,949 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN 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 Santa Barbara Botanic Garden →
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 111 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