Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC
SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,003,281 to it, the largest being NORTH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCA ($2,008,161). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $14M
- Funders on record
- 14
- Grants received
- $3.0M
- Net assets
- $9.9M
What Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc does
Mission
The sustainable forestry initiative (sfi) inc. Is an independent, non-profit organization with a mission to advance sustainability through forest-focused collaborations. Sfi is a leader through collaboration in standards, conservation, community, and education with an emphasis on practical solutions demonstrated by progress on the ground. Sfi standards have become a highly trusted solution that can support a growing need for products from sustainably managed forests.the conservation pillar advances conservation objectives in our standards across forests in the united states and canada through targeted research, leadership of critical initiatives, and partnerships that advance multiple conservation efforts. The community network helps link our pillars, promote learning, and increase our scale. Project learning tree (plt), sfi's education program advances environmental education, forest literacy and career pathways using trees and forests as windows on to the world.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Standards:sfi continues to promote standards that provide assurance for sustainable forestry and responsible sourcing. According to an independent survey conducted by erm shelton in 2024, 63% of u.s. Consumers have heard of sfi, up from 52% in 2020. Additionally, of those aware of the sfi label, 93% trust ita 3% increase since 2020. At the end of 2024, the sfi footprint includes 370 million acres of forests certified to the sfi forest management standard and millions more positively influenced by the sfi fiber sourcing standard. And 79% of sfi-certified organizations reported steady or increased demand for sfi-certified products.with customers and government regulations accelerating global conversations on deforestation and forest degradation, sfi reconfirmed its commitment to no deforestation and no forest degradation on march 20, 2024, by explicitly prohibiting certification to the sfi 2022 forest management standard on lands that are deforested and on practices that are causing forest degradation after december 31, 2020. Sfi also introduced two modules to support european union deforestation regulation due diligence requirements. In 2024, sfi also worked to promote an update of…
$5,107,666 spentof which $244,366 as grants$10,598,287 earned by the program43% of program spendingEducation:sfi inc. Operates project learning tree (plt), an award-winning initiative that helps educators integrate environmental education into lesson plans and use the outdoors to engage students in a lifetime of learning. Plt advances environmental education, forest literacy and career pathways using trees and forests as windows on to the world. In 2024, we were proud to release explora tu ambiente: gua de actividades k-8, the spanish-language version of plt's best-selling explore your environment: k-8 activity guide. This will provide environmental education and forest literacy resources to the more than 4 million spanish speaking students in u.s. Public schools. Plt is also expanding bilingual training opportunities for educators, with successful pilot programs already implemented in states like illinois. Plt also expanded high school-focused instructional materials with a brand-new digital activity collection: forests, water & people which includes three place-based lessons that invite learners to explore how trees, watersheds, and our communities are connected.sfi, plt and the international corrugated packaging foundation (icpf) announced a multi-year partnership that aimes…
$3,498,791 spentof which $237,797 as grants$375,577 earned by the program29% of program spendingConservation and community investments:sfi is the only standard to require that certified organizations invest in forest research. The total amount invested in research by sfi program participants is $2.1 billion since 1995. Sfi also invests directly in conservation research and collaborative projects to measure outcomes relative to water quality, biodiversity and species at risk, fire resilience and forest health. In 2024, sfi launched a new conservation initiative focused on forest health and fire resilience. The overarching goal of the project is to identify, develop, and implement practices and strategies to make our forests more resilient. With this funding, sfi launched the sfi climate smart forestry initiative. Close to 250,000 resource and harvesting professionals have participated in training since 1995, with support from our sfi implementation committees. We remain committed to working with our partners to increase awareness of the opportunities presented by sustainably managed forests.
$2,061,916 spentof which $248,897 as grants$23,288 earned by the program17% of program spendingPromotion and communication:in 2024, sfi hosted an annual conference in collaboration in atlanta, georgia. Sfi also hosted its largest ever youth delegates cohort at the 2024 annual conference with over 50 participants. Participants of the youth delegates program had opportunities to navigate their early careers, network with professionals, and engage in important discussions. The sfi annual conference brings together people from the conservation, community, education, and economic sectors who care about forests. Attendees included ceos of fortune 500 companies, conservation and community leaders, indigenous representatives, forest managers, university faculty and students, government officials, and many more. More than 450 people joined the 2024 sfi annual conference. Sfi unveiled its sfi 2025-2030 strategic direction at the 2024 sfi annual conference. More than 400 thought leaders contributed to shaping the sfi 2025-2030 strategic direction. It includes a theory of change framework designed to enhance our impact by engaging communities in a collaborative world that values and benefits from sustainably managed forests.sfi provides facilities, management and administrative…
$1,347,467 spent$1,326 earned by the program11% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $12,015,840.
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 2021 to 2022, from $11M to $14M (+25%).
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 1% · 2018 6% · 2019 3% · 2020 4% · 2021 9% · 2022 4% · 2023 4% · 2024 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
17% of SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Kathy Abusow
President & CEO
Board chair
Michael P Doss
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $164k → $523k.
4 of 14 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $92k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Michigan Forest Resource Alliance). These are real filings, and they are not money SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC raised.
From the IRS filings of SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC’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
SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 67% of grant income and the top three 88%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
78% 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 FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 89% · 2019 88% · 2020 100% · 2021 75% · 2022 93% · 2023 45% — 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 SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
78% of SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC's grant income comes from Washington, D.C. funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $31k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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 FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC's funding base is broadening — from 4 funders to 6 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 329 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $11.4M on record — $11.4M federal, $22k state.
- Department of Agriculture$11.4M
- VT$11k
- FL$7k
- MA$4k
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 FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
87% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
71%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 29 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Project Learning Tree Canada · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC: 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 FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC?
- SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,003,281 to it, the largest being NORTH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCA ($2,008,161). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC have?
- IRS filings report 14 organizations giving $3,003,281 in grants to SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC?
- NORTH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCA is the largest funder on record, with $2,008,161 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 14 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