California · Nonprofit
THE SAMBURU PROJECT INC
THE SAMBURU PROJECT INC (California) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,163,453 to it, the largest being GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC ($187,300). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 68% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $824k
- Funders on record
- 33
- Grants received
- $1.2M
- Net assets
- $367k
What The Samburu Project Inc does
Mission
To provide access to clean water and to continue to support well communities with initiatives that promote health, education, women's empowerment and general well-being. We collaborate with communities in developing countries to enhance men, women, and children's daily lives by providing resources that address immediate needs while promoting long term sustainability and self-sufficiency along with cultural integrity. The project is a community-based, grassroots organization working with the people of the samburu tribe in kenya's samburu east district, 425 kilometers north of nairobi. The project's primary focus is to provide clean, safe drinking water to communities as a foundation for further development. Since its inception in 2005, the project has drilled 165 wells, bringing clean, safe drinking water to over 100,000 people.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Well drill - drilling of nine handpump water wells and one deep community borehole and kiosk ($230,250), in addition to major repairs made to 32 wells and monitoring of 111 existing wells ($9,874.)
$240,124 spent48% of program spendingMenstrual hygiene instructional workshop and distribution of reusable products, soap and underwear to 1,500 girls and 300 women living in remote villages.
$38,030 spent8% of program spendingEducational support - provided school fees for six samburu children.
$26,972 spentof which $7,867 as grants5% of program spendingWomen's empowerment ($9,762) - conducted empowerment workshops at two remote villages. Gardening initiatives included constructing a garden at konyek village and two school gardens to be completed in 2024 ($27,294).
$198,676 spent39% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $503,802.
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 $356k to $531k (+49%).
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: 2021 11%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
101% of THE SAMBURU PROJECT INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (100% 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
Linda Hooper
Executive director
Board chair
Douglas Smith
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 17 funders, grant income rose $66k → $180k.
12 of 33 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 68% 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 SAMBURU PROJECT INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 33 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 SAMBURU PROJECT INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
71% 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 SAMBURU PROJECT INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 38% · 2018 58% · 2019 21% · 2020 27% · 2021 28% · 2022 27% · 2023 18% — 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
42% of THE SAMBURU PROJECT INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% 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
68% of THE SAMBURU PROJECT INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $372k that is directly attributable, 60% of it comes from funders outside California, across 14 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $792k arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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 SAMBURU PROJECT INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 4,527 international nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,527 international nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like THE SAMBURU PROJECT 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
86%
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 SAMBURU PROJECT 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 THE SAMBURU PROJECT INC?
- THE SAMBURU PROJECT INC (California) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,163,453 to it, the largest being GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC ($187,300). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 68% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE SAMBURU PROJECT INC have?
- IRS filings report 33 organizations giving $1,163,453 in grants to THE SAMBURU PROJECT INC, 18 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE SAMBURU PROJECT INC?
- GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $187,300 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE SAMBURU PROJECT INC 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 Samburu Project →
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 33 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