California · Nonprofit
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,138,939 to it, the largest being NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION ($661,306). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $8.3M
- Funders on record
- 17
- Grants received
- $1.1M
- Net assets
- $4.0M
What Southern California Mountains Foundation does
Mission
Assist the forest service with the care of the national forest. This is accomplished by education, land management and the development of volunteers and partnerships with the national forest, government agencies, corporations and other nonprofit organizations.
As stated on its FY2022 Form 990.
Programs
Urban conservation corps-a workforce development program that offers youngmen and women, ages 18-25 and youth ages 13-17, the chance to serve on oursouthern california mountains and become employable citizens through hardwork in enviromental conservation. Accomplishments included, maintained andrestored 500 acres of public land, revyved 10 tons of plastic bottles andcans, 100,00 pounds of e-waste and 30 tons of waste tires from public land,maintained seven historic fire lookout towers, planted 500 native plants,coordinated 70,000 volunteer service hours, graduated 13 urban conservationcorpsmembers through john muir charter school and coordinated over 20,000americorps service hours to mitigate wildfires in the san bernardinonational forest.
$5,301,273 spent78% of program spendingOff highway vehicle education and safety (ohv) more than 300 ohv patrolvolunteers contributed over 20,000 hours each year in theaching visitorstrail ethics and land resource stewardship, maintained over 900 miles ofohv road and trails, logged over 38,000 miles of patrols, educated 4,000people on responsible recreation, in addition, they maintain and monitortrails to help ohv enthusiasts recreate safetly while protecting the publicland they visit.
$1,377,850 spent20% of program spendingOther programs include the children's forest, a 3,400 achre stie nestledin the san bernardino mountains. Along with recreational opportunities,the children's forest hosts a visitor information center, enenviromental education program, a youth leaderhip program, and an activerestoration program. Big bear dsicovery center- a visitor information andeducation center. Visitors to the forest obtain permits and informationabout the use of the forest. Fee based education programs and groupprograms are available. A retail store provides the public with informationabout the national forest.
$110,611 spent2% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,789,734.
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 2022 to 2023, from $4.4M to $6.1M (+40%).
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 90% · 2018 78% · 2019 59% · 2021 57% · 2022 59% · 2023 53% · 2024 54% · 2025 57%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION’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. 0 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 6 funders, grant income fell $185k → $170k.
2 of 17 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 8% 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 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION’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
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 58% of grant income and the top three 76%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
91% 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 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 99% · 2018 100% · 2019 89% · 2020 47% · 2021 85% · 2022 96% · 2023 53% — 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
33% of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 29% 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
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION draws 77% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 5 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $91k 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
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION is better cushioned 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
Government funding SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $5.2M on record.
- Department of Agriculture$3.6M
- Department of Defense$1.2M
- Department of the Interior$410k
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 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION
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
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION: 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 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION?
- SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,138,939 to it, the largest being NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION ($661,306). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 17 organizations giving $1,138,939 in grants to SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION?
- NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $661,306 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS FOUNDATION 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 Southern California Mountains →
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 17 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