California · Nonprofit
THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY
THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY (California) receives grants from 47 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,777,666 to it, the largest being RESOURCES LEGACY FUND ($7,444,382). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $12M
- Funders on record
- 47
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $57M
What The California Desert Land Conservancy does
Mission
To protect the colorado and mojave deserts ecosystems and their scenic and cultural resources.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Organization pursues lands that have strategic conservation values and works to ensure that all acquired land is properly stewarded and maintained. Every land transaction supports the vision of a mojave desert with interconnected, permanently protected scenic and natural areas hosting a diversity of native plants and wildlife. Land stewardship responsibilities include fee land and conservation easement monitoring, simple restoration, biological surveys, and installation of signs and fencing. Total lands conserved to date are 124,282 acres of fee lands and conservation easements combined.
$2,502,477 spent$357,267 earned by the program57% of program spendingThe plant conservation program includes a native plant restoration nursery and a conservation seed bank. The nursery grows native plants for restoration contracts for revegetation projects throughout the california deserts. The seed bank stores and preserves native seeds and herbarium specimens from mdlt properties for future research. In fy25, the nursery sold over 10,000 plants and propagated 100 species for restoration and our annual public plant sale. The seed bank continued to improve staffing and made 82 collections of 71 species.
$1,479,188 spent34% of program spendingEducation and public outreach programs include community conservation, tribal engagement, outdoor education, community outreach, and an internship for women in science, technology, engineering, and math. In fy25, mdlt launched its community conservation initiatives department to deepen partnerships with local communities and tribal partners and ensure that conservation efforts reflect shared values and priorities. Community-centered conservation is central to our mission, and this department aims to expand programs that support and uplift indigenous communities, engage with local communities to monitor habitat and wildlife health, and provide accessible education and outreach on conservation issues that impact mdlt's mission. In 2025, the department participated in 13 local community and tribal events, connecting with over 500 people in-person and over 200 people virtually. We had 219 volunteers contribute 3,854.25 hours and had three people took part in the women in science discovering our mojave (wisdom) internship.
$378,143 spent$167,130 earned by the program9% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,359,808.
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 2024 to 2025, from $64M to $73M (+14%).
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: 2022 9% · 2023 13% · 2024 18% · 2025 17%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
85% of THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (87% 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.
Chief executive
Kelly Herbinson
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018, and between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 14 funders, grant income fell $2.0M → $321k.
9 of 47 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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 THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 47 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
THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 69% of grant income and the top three 85%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
94% 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 THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 90% · 2018 33% · 2019 73% · 2020 91% · 2021 74% · 2022 76% · 2023 27% — 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
38% of THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% 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 THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $478k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 210 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 210 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $266k on record.
- Department of the Interior$266k
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 THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY
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
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
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 THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY: 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 THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY?
- THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY (California) receives grants from 47 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,777,666 to it, the largest being RESOURCES LEGACY FUND ($7,444,382). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY have?
- IRS filings report 47 organizations giving $10,777,666 in grants to THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY, 25 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY?
- RESOURCES LEGACY FUND is the largest funder on record, with $7,444,382 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE CALIFORNIA DESERT LAND CONSERVANCY 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 47 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