California · Nonprofit
SIERRA ROOTS
SIERRA ROOTS (California) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $108,121 to it, the largest being HOMELESS RESOURCE COUNCIL OF THE SIERRAS ($90,904). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $96k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $108k
- Net assets
- $141k
What Sierra Roots does
Mission
Sierra Roots is committed to collaborating with chronically homeless individuals to help them make progress in their health, self reliance and action plans to obtain secure and safe homes. We employ a relationship-based approach that identifies individual needs and preserves the dignity of each person.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Manage cold weather shelter operations for Nevada County in Nevada City. The Sierra Roots Weather Shelter is a program in partnership with Nevada County. The Weather Shelter uses a 30-bed public facility in Nevada City as a temporary shelter venue during extreme weather events. The shelter was open for 15 days in 2025.
$36,760 spentof which $40,406 as grants73% of program spendingUsing a local government grant from the City of Nevada City, we facilitated a portion of their Neighbor-to-Neighbor project. We engaged the homeless population in wildfire prevention to address their safety during wildfires and their role in preventing wildfires from occurring.
$7,551 spentof which $7,551 as grants15% of program spendingProvide food, clothing and supplies to the homeless of Western Nevada County: We provided weekly hot meals for homeless participants, using volunteers, totaling 835 meals in 2025. The meals also provided a place to give away clothes, shoes, sleeping bags, and other essential items to participants. This program allows us to cultivate relationships with homeless participants in order to engage them in our advocacy programs and connect them to needed public services. Most participants in this program are chronically homeless, often living in tents in the woods and in other secluded areas.
$3,556 spentof which $3,330 as grants7% of program spendingUsing what remained of a state grant and donations, we used our Advocacy program to increase public awareness of homeless issues and increase community engagement in those issues. We were able to produce numerous articles and op-eds in the local paper to increase awareness of local homeless issues.
$1,180 spentof which $1,140 as grants2% of program spendingThe Write On program was intended to teach homeless and formerly homeless students to write and tell their stories in poetry, short stories and essays. Once completed, assistant and volunteers were to record and publish the finished works. Unfortunately, the federal arts grant funding this project ended, our Project Director left the organization, and we were unable to complete the project. 11
$1,105 spentof which $1,105 as grants2% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $50,152.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 $179k to $120k (−33%).
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 82% · 2021 77%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of SIERRA ROOTS’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (100% 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
Susan Rice
Board Chair and Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $10k → $91k.
3 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 16% 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 SIERRA ROOTS’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
SIERRA ROOTS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 84% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 SIERRA ROOTS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2020 99% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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.
Where its funders are
100% of SIERRA ROOTS's grant income comes from California funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $17k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
SIERRA ROOTS runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 9,787 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,787 human services nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Organizations like SIERRA ROOTS
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.
Public support
99%
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 SIERRA ROOTS: 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 SIERRA ROOTS?
- SIERRA ROOTS (California) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $108,121 to it, the largest being HOMELESS RESOURCE COUNCIL OF THE SIERRAS ($90,904). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SIERRA ROOTS have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $108,121 in grants to SIERRA ROOTS, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SIERRA ROOTS?
- HOMELESS RESOURCE COUNCIL OF THE SIERRAS is the largest funder on record, with $90,904 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SIERRA ROOTS 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 Sierra Roots →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 4 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