Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
The Society for Ecological Restoration Inc
The Society for Ecological Restoration Inc (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,777,192 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($2,584,291). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 97% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.5M
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $2.8M
- Net assets
- $1.8M
What The Society for Ecological Restoration Inc does
Mission
SER advances the science, practice and policy of ecological restoration to sustain biodiversity, improve resilience in a changing climate, and re-establish an ecologically healthy relationship between nature and culture.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Practice - (Community-based Restoration, NPS, MS-CES, BLM, UNCCD, Certification) SER collaborates with the Microsoft Corporation to support their efforts to implement standards-based ecological restoration. Through this collaboration, Microsoft identifies priority locales, and then SER works with existing or new member organizations in those locales to develop and deliver standards-based restoration projects with funding from Microsoft. SER provides training, technical support, and project oversight for the local partners. SER also collects all required reporting and data from the local partners to deliver to Microsoft. As of 2024, SER has managed more than 20 projects in 10 countries in collaboration with Microsoft and local partners.
$1,456,674 spentof which $784,960 as grants$1,603,000 earned by the program52% of program spendingOrganizational Development-(Membership, Chapters, Sections, Open Doors) With more than 5,000 members in more than 120 countries, SERs global network represents the worlds foremost source of scientific and practical expertise on the repair of degraded ecosystems. SER members include scientists, engineers, planners, program managers, policy makers, landscape architects, artists, economists, volunteers, community advocates, and others. SER members work in all terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and represent governmental and nongovernmental organizations, private industry, consultancies, indigenous communities, students and more. Through this collective expertise, SER works to advance the field of ecological restoration by facilitating knowledge development and sharing among practitioners, researchers, and decision-makers. SER helps members and non- members alike share knowledge through trainings and workshops, conferences, publications, on-the-ground demonstration projects, virtual and in-person networking events, an online restoration resource center, and the worlds only Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner (CERP) program.
$457,745 spentof which $93,830 as grants$469,563 earned by the program16% of program spendingNetworking-Outreach (World Conferences, NAC, RRC, MadWeek) SER hosts a biennial world conference on ecological restoration, bringing together the worlds leading researchers, practitioners, land managers, and other restoration experts to discuss new and emerging science, practice, and policy issues in restoration. SER2025 will be held in Denver, Colorado.
$414,991 spent$139,830 earned by the program15% of program spendingCertified Ecological Restoration Practitioner (CERP) program: SERs Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner (CERP) program credentials restoration practitioners and practitioners-in- training who meet core knowledge and practice requirements and maintain those through continuing education. While actual projects are not audited on the ground, applicants are required to submit three sample projects which are reviewed for consistency with SERs International Principles and Standards, and which help certification reviewers
$0 spent0% of program spendingassess if the applicants are likely to uphold and implement best restoration practices in their projects. To date SER has certified more than 700 practitioners.
$462,484 spent$1,136,895 earned by the program17% of program spendingPublications: Since 1993 SER has published Restoration Ecology, the premier global journal for publishing research in this growing and important field. Restoration Ecology includes a bi-annual thematic series on restoration in arid lands. SER also publishes key guidance documents, such as its International Principles and Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration which are considered the global guide for designing, implementing, and monitoring ecological restoration projects.
$0 spent0% of program spendingPOLICY: SER contributes significantly to national and international policy actions through collaborations with such bodies as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration, and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The SER/IUCN biennial global fora on restoration, for example, are helping define and guide high quality restoration across the world. SER members and board
$0 spent0% of program spendingmembers serve on a variety of international advisory committees that also support the implementation and monitoring of ecological restoration. Through SERs Science and Policy Committee, SER chapters and global conferences, SER continues to bring increased attention to the importance of ecological restoration as a tool for addressing some of the worlds most pressing challenges and continues to guide these bodies in incorporating restoration
$0 spent0% of program spendingas a specific component within their activities and strategic plans. ALL Remaining: The Society for Ecological Restoration co-sponsors conferences, workshops, and other knowledge-sharing and knowledge-development events with its chapters and other like-minded NPOs that provide restorationists with cutting-edge
$0 spent0% of program spendingresearch, information, and tools to improve ecological restoration practices
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 10 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,791,894.
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 2022 to 2023, from $1.2M to $2.0M (+57%).
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 0% · 2019 6% · 2020 0% · 2021 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
63% of The Society for Ecological Restoration Inc’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% 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
Bethanie Walder
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $2k → $599k.
3 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 97% 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 Society for Ecological Restoration 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
The Society for Ecological Restoration Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 93% of grant income and the top three 98%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
99% 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 Society for Ecological Restoration Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 67% · 2019 83% · 2020 75% · 2021 99% · 2022 95% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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
50% of The Society for Ecological Restoration 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
97% of The Society for Ecological Restoration 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 $93k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 4 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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 Society for Ecological Restoration Inc runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 2,186 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,186 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding The Society for Ecological Restoration Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.1M on record — $1.1M federal, $10k state.
- Department of the Interior$1.1M
- (EE) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES$10k
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 Society for Ecological Restoration 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
96% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for The Society for Ecological Restoration 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 Society for Ecological Restoration Inc?
- The Society for Ecological Restoration Inc (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,777,192 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($2,584,291). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 97% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does The Society for Ecological Restoration Inc have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $2,777,192 in grants to The Society for Ecological Restoration Inc, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The Society for Ecological Restoration Inc?
- AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $2,584,291 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The Society for Ecological Restoration 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 8 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