Colorado · Nonprofit
THE WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION
THE WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION (Colorado) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,409,423 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($891,785). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 64% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $24M
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $1.4M
- Net assets
- $52M
What The Water Research Foundation does
Mission
The purpose of The Water Research Foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. To engage exclusively in nonprofit, charitable and educational activities designed to initiate, supervise, coordinate, promote, and finance research in the technology, operation, and management of water, wastewater, reuse and stormwater collection, treatment, and supply systems, toward ensuring water quality and improving water service to the public.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Research programs: wrf coordinates multiple research programs to collectively address water-related issues of subscribers and the water sector as a whole. The research programs are the research priority program, the tailored collaboration program, emerging opportunities program, unsolicited research program and facilitated research program. These programs include the cost of projects funded for research to be conducted by other organizations and other internal expenses directly related to these projects.
$8,962,867 spent$3,859,002 earned by the program64% of program spendingResearch management: the planning, administration, and monitoring of the research programs sponsored by wrf are the responsibility of the research managers. Specific tasks include administration of wrf's research advisory council and technical advisory committees for each program and topic area; research planning; contractor monitoring and oversight; research deliverable and product review; request for proposals preparation; project advisory committee selection and administration; and proposal review and selection. Project management, knowledgement management and research planning serve as wrf's primary link with the water research and volunteer community.
$2,365,553 spentof which $100,000 as grants17% of program spendingCommunications & marketing: wrf's communications and marketing efforts consist of publishing information and resources derived from wrf-sponsored research to ensure that the results and application of research are effectively transferred to subscribers and other stakeholders. These efforts include the development, distribution and promotion of research reports and other project resources, printed materials and e-periodicals, webcasts, workshops, the website and social media. Communications and marketing also oversee all public relations and marketing activities and collateral.
$1,350,473 spent10% of program spendingSubscriber services - the administration of wrf's major funding effort, the research subscription program, is coordinated by subscriber services staff. Activities include: planning & implementation of a recruitment & retention program; highlighting wrf's value proposition and coordinating subscriber communications. Subscriber account managers are responsible for providing personalized services to subscribers. Major activities include annual visits/briefings, serving as primary staff contact, promoting greater involvement in wrf programs and ensuring subscribers' need are expeditiously met.
$1,386,919 spent10% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $14,065,812.
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 2019 to 2020, from $30M to $37M (+25%).
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 75% · 2019 74% · 2020 71% · 2021 75% · 2022 75% · 2023 72% · 2024 67% · 2025 72%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
76% of THE WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION’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 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
Peter Grevatt
CEO/secretary
Board chair
John Entsminger
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $76k → $16.
3 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 64% 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 WATER RESEARCH 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 WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 63% of grant income and the top three 90%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
78% 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 WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 80% · 2021 96% · 2022 86% · 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
40% of THE WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION'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
64% of THE WATER RESEARCH 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 $508k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Colorado, across 4 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $902k 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 WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 195 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 195 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding THE WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $21.7M on record — $21.7M federal, $14k state.
- Environmental Protection Agency$11.3M
- Department of Energy$9.3M
- Department of Defense$990k
- National Science Foundation$50k
- Refunds-Overpayment Charges$14k
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 WATER RESEARCH 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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
69% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
93%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 5 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE WATER RESEARCH 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 WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION?
- THE WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION (Colorado) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,409,423 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($891,785). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 64% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $1,409,423 in grants to THE WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION?
- NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $891,785 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE WATER RESEARCH FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. 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 Water Research →
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 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