California · Nonprofit
The San Diego River Park Foundation
The San Diego River Park Foundation (California) receives grants from 55 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,353,135 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($2,841,690). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 69% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.1M
- Funders on record
- 55
- Grants received
- $7.4M
- Net assets
- $29M
What The San Diego River Park Foundation does
Mission
To support and empower community groups working to restore and enhance the San Diego River and to foster stewardship of the important community and regional asset in perpetuity through advocacy, meaningful actions, education, and passion while promoting volunteerism and philanthropy.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Watershed Stewardship This program includes our efforts to restore and care for portions of the river through a comprehensive strategy. Program efforts include conducting research and partnering with others to gain a better understanding of the rivers ecosystem and guide future projects. This program also includes managing more than 2600 acres of open space and providing opportunities for people to enjoy and explore this beautiful landscape.
$316,558 spent$98,305 earned by the program30% of program spendingHealthy River Healthy Community This programs works toward a health, pollution-free river through an integrated approach of data collection, collaboration and action. This program has received national recognition for this innovative approach removed more than 100 tons of trash and refuse from the river during the year. In 2024, the program focused a great deal of effort to be part of the solution to address the growing challenge of homelessness in the riverbed. The data collected is shared with numerous public agencies and social service providers so that people living in the riverbed receive resources for a pathway to a better quality of life.
$184,733 spent$20,000 earned by the program18% of program spendingYouth Nature Education the key to the future of the San Diego River and associated ecosystems are fostering nature connections through education. A variety of approaches are used with a focus on overcoming barriers for kids to the lifelong benefits of a strong nature connection. Utilizing STEM-based and hands-on activities, this program bridges this nature divide for thousands of youth.
$137,143 spent13% of program spendingProgram Service Expenses 61,654, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 3,003 Planning and Policy This program works to advance the vision of a 52 mile long regional park and trail system, acquires and conserves threatened open spaces, collaborates with public agencies and other partners to advance and advocate for key policy initiatives to improve the health and viability of the rivers ecoregion, and participates in community discussions to increase equity of access to nature. Program Service Expenses 162,794, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 0 Community Engagement A signature program which strives to celebrate the San Diego River as a natural, cultural and recreational treasure, promotes equity of access to nature, and advances stewardship of the San Diego River by organizing more than 300 volunteer service projects annually. This program involves sharing information about this amazing resource, and hosting the annual San Diego River Days celebration and other events, maintaining public gardens, engaging academic interns and mobilizing volunteers for many other activities. Program Service Expenses 187,044, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 0 Grant Park Grant Park is a program that…
$411,492 spent$3,003 earned by the program39% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,049,926.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 $28M to $32M (+15%).
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: 2020 22% · 2022 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
95% of The San Diego River Park Foundation’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (13% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 5 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
Robert Hutsel
President and CEO
Board chair
Michael Schneider
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 20 funders, grant income rose $339k → $911k.
15 of 55 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 69% 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 San Diego River Park Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 55 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 San Diego River Park Foundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 39% of grant income and the top three 64%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 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 San Diego River Park Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 65% · 2018 91% · 2019 46% · 2020 66% · 2021 44% · 2022 49% · 2023 41% — 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
40% of The San Diego River Park Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
69% of The San Diego River Park Foundation'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 $2.3M that is directly attributable, 83% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.1M 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
The San Diego River Park Foundation runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,732 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,732 recreation & sports nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding The San Diego River Park Foundation receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $500k on record.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$500k
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 San Diego River Park 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 San Diego River Park 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.
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 San Diego River Park Foundation?
- The San Diego River Park Foundation (California) receives grants from 55 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,353,135 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($2,841,690). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 69% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does The San Diego River Park Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 55 organizations giving $7,353,135 in grants to The San Diego River Park Foundation, 32 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The San Diego River Park Foundation?
- THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,841,690 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The San Diego River Park Foundation 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 San Diego River Park →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 55 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