California · Nonprofit
Sustainable Conservation
Sustainable Conservation (California) receives grants from 97 organizations whose IRS filings report $24,405,165 to it, the largest being Silicon Valley Community Foundation ($3,334,300). 69 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $8.8M
- Funders on record
- 97
- Grants received
- $24M
- Net assets
- $8.8M
What Sustainable Conservation does
Mission
Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different interests to catalyze conservation success. By listening deeply and honoring all perspectives, we build common ground from which to forge a better path forward for our Golden State.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
California faces big challenges when it comes to our water supplies. Our limited and less reliable fresh water is being stretched to meet the needs of the environment and growing urban and farming demands, while our groundwater supplies are steadily declining. Sustainable Conservation advances promising practices, incentives and policies to help achieve long-term water sustainability in California. Our efforts mean reliable, affordable and clean water for irrigating the crops that feed the nation, healthy communities, and vibrant waterways that support diverse wildlife.
$1,884,072 spentof which $20,271 as grants$694,975 earned by the program37% of program spendingWaste Not Program promotes appropriate, scalable solutions to reimagine waste by reusing manure nutrients, connecting farmers and their land to a circular resource economy, reducing groundwater and greenhouse gas pollution, and building soil health.
$1,271,821 spent$427,451 earned by the program25% of program spendingHealthy soils are the foundation of productive farmland and a critical tool for addressing Californias water challenges in the face of climate change. Were all connected by land, air, and water, and understanding how we can improve soil health will help us co-create a more sustainable California. In 2023, well address key opportunities in theSan Joaquin Valleyand theCentral Coast the states most productive agricultural regions with the greatest impacts to their water systems and watersheds. Regenerative soil health practices like cover cropping and high-carbon soil amendments can make a real difference in how our soils store water and nutrients, and even improve the quality and quantity of water thats returned to our aquifers and waterways.
$1,046,255 spentof which $125 as grants$9,289 earned by the program21% of program spendingCalifornia boasts iconic plants and animals, some found nowhere else on the planet, but more than 350 of these species and their habitats are threatened because weve significantly altered the states landscapes. This includes the destruction of 90% of Californias riparian forests and ongoing pollution in a vast majority of waterways. The good news is that all Californians, from private landowners to conservation groups to public agencies, can do a lot to restore these damaged places. We make it easier to restore our vital natural resources in a changing climate by partnering with government, NGOs and other restoration proponents to develop regulatory and policy incentives that accelerate the pace and scale of habitat restoration statewide. Our efforts help revive degraded waterways to boost clean water and habitat, and bring struggling species back from the brink.
$860,016 spent$19,165 earned by the program17% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,062,164.
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 2023 to 2024, from $7.6M to $9.9M (+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: 2018 3% · 2019 7% · 2020 18% · 2021 14% · 2022 3% · 2023 2% · 2024 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
81% of Sustainable Conservation’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Ashley Boren
CEO
Board chair
Dan Dooley
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 31 funders to 46 funders, grant income rose $2.7M → $3.1M.
19 of 97 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 35% 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 Sustainable Conservation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 97 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
Sustainable Conservation has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 14% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
51% 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 Sustainable Conservation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 31% · 2018 20% · 2019 42% · 2020 18% · 2021 34% · 2022 21% · 2023 19% — 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
59% of Sustainable Conservation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 71% 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
87% of Sustainable Conservation's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $8.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
Sustainable Conservation runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 2,187 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,187 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding Sustainable Conservation receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $812k on record.
- Department of Agriculture$812k
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 Sustainable Conservation
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
83%
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 Sustainable Conservation: 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 Sustainable Conservation?
- Sustainable Conservation (California) receives grants from 97 organizations whose IRS filings report $24,405,165 to it, the largest being Silicon Valley Community Foundation ($3,334,300). 69 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Sustainable Conservation have?
- IRS filings report 97 organizations giving $24,405,165 in grants to Sustainable Conservation, 69 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Sustainable Conservation?
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $3,334,300 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Sustainable Conservation 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.
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 97 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