California · Nonprofit
SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION
SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION (California) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $212,221 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($154,560). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 86% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.6M
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $212k
- Net assets
- $1.1M
What Solana Center for Environmental Innovation does
Mission
Solana Center for Environmental Innovations mission is to empower innovative solutions to climate change through education, community engagement, and research.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Environmental compliance consulting: our expertise in organic waste, composting, single-use plastics, and stormwater pollution, combined with our knowledge of related state environmental requirements, has enabled us to create effective and accessible solutions for local san diego county jurisdictions. These solutions help local governments and businesses address environmental issues and comply with state and local laws. We offer virtual statewide sb1383 trainings as well as extensive outreach campaigns, technical consulting, & sector-specific resources & surveys. We provided technical assistance and inspections to 381 businesses and 31 food recovery organizations across 12 jurisdictions. We also educated 597 businesses on sb 1383 regulations either in person (on-site visit) or electronically (email communication). Lastly, businesses that received consultation from solana center collectively donated over 8m pounds of edible food to communities in need.
$620,596 spent$863,311 earned by the program57% of program spendingEducation: solana center, a san diego county-wide resource for environmental education, focused on composting, watershed management, recycling, and zero waste, reached over 12,500 san diegans through educational events, school workshops, and business instruction. Our education program trained 52 master composters and 777 new composters at workshops, webinars, and five-week courses and answered more than 712 compost and zero-waste related questions over the phone, by email, and at the office. Solana center extended our education and information through our weekly newsletters, website, blog, social media accounts, and media coverage, reaching more than 20,000 san diego area residents.
$320,989 spent$377,370 earned by the program29% of program spendingClimate solutions: we offer practical solutions for local residents to reduce their climate footprint, including; waste reduction education; green living tours of our headquarters; e/u-waste - 2,159 drop-offs from residents of electronic waste, light bulbs, & batteries, kept 9,757 items from the landfill; rain barrels - sold 478 rain barrels, collecting 89,000 gallons of rainwater; green convene dinnerware loan program rented 850 place settings at 28 events, diverting 343 lbs. Of landfill waste; textile waste education event that offered textile repair and repurposing options, as well as a clothing swap collected 718 pounds of textiles & diverted 99% from landfill.
$149,606 spent$76,910 earned by the program14% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,091,191.
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 2019 to 2020, from $274k to $550k (+101%).
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 11% · 2018 5% · 2019 4% · 2020 6% · 2021 4% · 2022 19% · 2023 5% · 2024 5% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
15% of SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION’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. 0 of the last 9 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 6 funders, grant income rose $10k → $67k.
3 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 86% 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 SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION’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
SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 73% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
97% 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 SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 98% · 2020 98% · 2021 90% · 2022 51% · 2023 75% — 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
50% of SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 88% 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
86% of SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION'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 $29k that is directly attributable, 90% of it comes from funders outside California, across 4 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $183k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 1,074 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,074 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION
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
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
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 SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION: 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 SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION?
- SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION (California) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $212,221 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($154,560). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 86% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $212,221 in grants to SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION?
- THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $154,560 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SOLANA CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION 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 Solana Center for Environmental Innovation →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 8 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