New York · Nonprofit
THE SOLAR FOUNDATION
THE SOLAR FOUNDATION (New York) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,869,690 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($651,750). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2021
- $1.3M
- Funders on record
- 21
- Grants received
- $1.9M
- Net assets
- $0
What The Solar Foundation does
Mission
To accelerate adoption of the world's most abundant energy source: the sun. Through our leadership, research, and capacity building, we create transformative solutions to achieve a prosperous future in which solar and solar-compatible technologies are integrated into all aspects of our lives.
As stated on its FY2021 Form 990.
Program
Energy programs are federal funds programs and include:solsmart provides national recognition and no-cost technical assistance to municipalities and counties seeking to make it faster, easier, and more affordable for residents and businesses to install solar energy systems.solar ready vets network connects transitioning military service members and veterans of the u.s. Armed forces with solar industry training, credentialing and employment opportunities.puerto rico solar business accelerator supports solar workforce development, finance and microgrid development in puerto rico.
The first program described on its most recent Form 990, which lists programs largest first by expense.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $1.7M to $0 (−100%).
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 84% · 2018 50% · 2019 76% · 2020 87% · 2021 97%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2022: the base narrowed from 4 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $302k → $68.
6 of 21 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 38% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $385k from 4 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Energy Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money THE SOLAR FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of THE SOLAR FOUNDATION’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 SOLAR FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 35% of grant income and the top three 85%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
72% 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 SOLAR FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 66% · 2018 55% · 2019 58% · 2020 67% · 2021 53% · 2022 100% — growing more concentrated.
“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
15% of THE SOLAR FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 29% 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 FY2022, 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
THE SOLAR FOUNDATION draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 9 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $704k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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.
Government funding THE SOLAR FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.6M on record.
- Department of Energy$3.6M
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 SOLAR 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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
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 SOLAR 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 SOLAR FOUNDATION?
- THE SOLAR FOUNDATION (New York) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,869,690 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($651,750). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE SOLAR FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 21 organizations giving $1,869,690 in grants to THE SOLAR FOUNDATION, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE SOLAR FOUNDATION?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $651,750 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE SOLAR 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 FY2021 (financials across 2017–2021), and the filings of 21 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