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New York · Nonprofit

SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION

SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION (New York) receives grants from 257 organizations whose IRS filings report $180,220,453 to it, the largest being THE SCHMIDT FAMILY FOUNDATION ($24,016,750). 118 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$48M
Funders on record
257
Grants received
$180M
Net assets
$49M
118/257 repeat fundersgrants exceed reported revenue in one year
01What it does

What Sustainable Markets Foundation does

Mission

The mission of the organization is to promote environmental protection, energy efficiency, consumer protection, health and safety, and good government.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Clean energy & just transition - a program to educate the public about the need for an energy sector that is safe and healthy for everyone, including the need for just and equitable transitions which protect workers, communities, and economies.

    $17,575,504 spentof which $8,464,928 as grants
    43% of program spending
  2. Pollution prevention - a program to research and educate the public on the need for bold action to prevent pollution. Activities include dissemination of public education materials through the media, online, and by holding public events to raise awareness of the impact of pollution.

    $12,494,849 spentof which $952,460 as grants
    31% of program spending
  3. Environmental conservation - a program to research and educate the public on the importance of protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, recycling, and preservation of clean air, water, and natural ecosystems.

    $4,341,097 spentof which $3,123,300 as grants
    11% of program spending
  4. Journalism & civics

    $4,262,841 spentof which $688,675 as grants
    11% of program spending
  5. Human rights

    $1,503,477 spentof which $778,054 as grants
    4% of program spending
  6. Film

    $365,949 spent
    1% of program spending

The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $40,543,717.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($13M) Expenses 100 ($11M) Net assets 100 ($5.7M)2018 Revenue 108 ($14M) Expenses 121 ($14M) Net assets 109 ($6.3M)2019 Revenue 137 ($18M) Expenses 122 ($14M) Net assets 180 ($10M)2020 Revenue 181 ($23M) Expenses 154 ($17M) Net assets 287 ($17M)2021 Revenue 150 ($19M) Expenses 163 ($18M) Net assets 306 ($18M)2022 Revenue 324 ($42M) Expenses 231 ($26M) Net assets 587 ($34M)2023 Revenue 303 ($39M) Expenses 273 ($31M) Net assets 740 ($43M)2024 Revenue 370 ($48M) Expenses 370 ($41M) Net assets 855 ($49M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (370)Expenses (370)Net assets (855)Peer revenue range

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 $18M to $34M (+92%).

$6.0M
$6.6M
$10M
$17M
$18M
$34M
$44M
$51M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

95% of SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (87% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 364 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$1.8M
’17
$508k
’18
$4.1M
’19
$6.2M
’20
$1.1M
’21
$16M
’22
$8.6M
’23
$6.5M
’24
5.2
months of
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.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed44444444
Joined·+0+0+0+0+0+1+2
No longer listed·0000012
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 48 funders to 86 funders, grant income rose $6.3M → $34M.

57 of 257 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 31% 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 MARKETS FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 257 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 MARKETS FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 13% of grant income, and it takes 8 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 8 funders to its left

49% 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 MARKETS FOUNDATION.

13%
largest funder
28%
top three
~23
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 34% · 2018 24% · 2019 31% · 2020 33% · 2021 37% · 2022 23% · 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

29% of SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION draws 78% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 27 states in all.

VT
WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
MO
VA
DE
NM
NC
SC
DC
GA
TX
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
New York out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $55M arriving through sponsors registered in 21 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 330 environment nonprofits its size.

Operating margin14% · above the median
Months of reserve5.2mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)21% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 330 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024

Organizations like SUSTAINABLE MARKETS 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 New York

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

98% of spending goes to programs.

Program 98%Management 2%Fundraising 0%

Governance

3
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

80%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

NY

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SUSTAINABLE MARKETS 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 MARKETS FOUNDATION?
SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION (New York) receives grants from 257 organizations whose IRS filings report $180,220,453 to it, the largest being THE SCHMIDT FAMILY FOUNDATION ($24,016,750). 118 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 257 organizations giving $180,220,453 in grants to SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION, 118 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION?
THE SCHMIDT FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $24,016,750 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 257 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