California · Nonprofit
SANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE
SANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE (California) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $429,240 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($159,820). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2026
- $909k
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $429k
- Net assets
- $2.7M
What Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance does
Mission
The Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance promotes the enjoyment, understanding, and protection of birds and other wildlife by engaging people of all ages in birding, education, and conservation.
As stated on its FY2026 Form 990.
Programs
Environmental Advocacy SCVBA is one of the most active and successful environmental advocacy organizations in the South Bay area. Our staff Environmental Advocates and volunteer members of the Environmental Action Committee (EAC) engage in a large spectrum of activities with focus on the protection of birds and wildlife habitat as development in our region intensifies. This includes advocacy for the protection of open space, riparian corridors, wetlands and the Bay as well as advocacy for ecological urban design that focuses on increasing canopy and green infrastructure, planting California native vegetation, and implementing dark skies and bird safe design policies. We also advocate for local species such as the Burrowing Owl, Black Skimmers, Egrets and more. Audiences of our advocacy efforts include decision makers, advisory boards and staff in many of our local cities, agencies and jurisdictions. Advocacy work includes: engaging as stakeholders in Conservation planning efforts, Master Planning and Strategic Planning processes; writing comment letters on CEQA documents for Master Plans and development projects; writing advocacy letters to and/or meeting with community members,…
$237,165 spent$186,368 earned by the program52% of program spendingEducation and Outreach The Wetlands Discovery Program has been inspiring young minds to become more involved in conservation since 1988. We aim to show students, grades 3-5, the value of wetlands and how they support the birds and other wildlife that inhabit them. By giving students practical hands-on experience with these concepts, we hope to encourage them to consider the impact they are having on the earth, and to determine ways that they can make a difference. Key conservation concepts are first covered through materials that are provided to schoolteachers by SCVBA. SCVBA docents then visit the schools to reinforce these concepts by helping students work through activity stations that cover environmental topics ranging from bird adaptations and migration, to human impact and ecosystem interactions. Students are also trained to use binoculars in preparation for the field trip. On the day of the trip, docents lead students on a nature walk around local baylands and challenge them to apply their newfound knowledge. This experience allows students to see and understand how the concepts they have learned play out in the real world. We have also found through student evaluations…
$130,329 spent$122,914 earned by the program29% of program spendingMembership Benefits SCVBA reaches out to the public to promote the enjoyment, understanding, and protection of birds and other wildlife by engaging people of all ages in birding, education, and conservation. We provide a free Speaker Series featuring notable environmental personalities. We lead free birding field trips lead by volunteers, host classes on birding, wildlife illustration, photography and other related activities. We have a vibrant online presence including our own website, Facebook, and Instagram social media and we host a collection of educational videos on our new YouTube channel. Since 1929, SCVBA has published its member newsletter on a regular schedule. The "Avocet" was transitioned from bimonthly to a quarterly schedule, roughly corresponding to the seasonal movement of birds. The change meant more content per issue, increased page count, and a need for new and improved versatile design. The Avocet is now available online. Additionally, monthly updates are produced and emailed directly to members. The cost of newsletter publication, web hosting, teleconferencing, instructional materials and other expenses are supported through membership dues.
$84,345 spent$366,167 earned by the program19% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2026 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $451,839.
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 2025 to 2026, from $2.1M to $2.7M (+31%).
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 13% · 2018 9% · 2019 0% · 2020 10% · 2021 19% · 2022 11% · 2023 11% · 2024 13% · 2025 7% · 2026 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
90% of SANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 10 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
Matthew Dodder
Executive director
As listed on its FY2026 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $23k → $54k.
5 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 66% 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 CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE’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
SANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 77%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
98% 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 CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 57% · 2018 54% · 2019 37% · 2020 40% · 2021 54% · 2022 44% · 2023 47% — 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
63% of SANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
66% of SANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE'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 $145k that is directly attributable, 54% of it comes from funders outside California, across 3 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $284k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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 CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 88 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 88 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2026
Organizations like SANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE
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
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
93%
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 CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE: 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 CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE?
- SANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE (California) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $429,240 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($159,820). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $429,240 in grants to SANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE?
- AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $159,820 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE 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 Clara Valley Bird Alliance →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2026 (financials across 2017–2026), and the filings of 12 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