Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY
THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 492 organizations whose IRS filings report $109,923,707 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($13,249,647). 314 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $38M
- Funders on record
- 492
- Grants received
- $110M
- Net assets
- $102M
What The Wilderness Society does
Mission
The Wilderness Society works to protect america's public lands from threats like development and privatization, so wild places remain intact, accessible and available for future generations.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Connect, protect, steward lands: america's public lands face serious threats from efforts to open them to extractive industries like oil, gas and mining; rollbacks of existing protections for national monuments and wilderness areas; proposals to sell or transfer federal lands to state or private ownership; and cuts to the agencies that manage these places. The Wilderness Society actively tracks and responds to these threats through advocacy, legal intervention, and public education. We work with communities, policymakers and researchers to advance science-based, nonpartisan conservation policies that help protect clean water, wildlife habitat, outdoor access, and the freedom to enjoy public lands now and for future generations.
$15,634,135 spentof which $866,637 as grants$109,691 earned by the program55% of program spendingEquitable access: equitable access to hike, camp, and recreate on federal lands is a key principle for ensuring communities benefit from and love their public lands. We are committed to the ideal that wilderness and all public lands can bring people and communities together and that everyone should share equitably in their benefits.
$4,501,785 spentof which $249,544 as grants$31,585 earned by the program16% of program spendingClimate solutions: public lands are home to important wildlife habitat, migration corridors, recreation areas, and cultural resources valued by communities, tribes, and the multi-billion dollar outdoor economy. At the same time, the western u.s. Has exceptional renewable energy potential, and some of our nation's best solar, wind, and geothermal resources are found on public lands. If appropriately sited and subject to robust public engagement, renewable energy projects can create thousands of jobs, promote american energy independence, and reduce emissions.
$4,091,503 spentof which $226,802 as grants$28,706 earned by the program14% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$4,414,448 spentof which $244,703 as grants$30,972 earned by the program15% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $28,641,871.
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 2020 to 2021, from $74M to $92M (+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.
92% of THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 130 funders to 197 funders, grant income rose $11M → $14M.
55 of 492 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% 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 WILDERNESS SOCIETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 492 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 WILDERNESS SOCIETY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 12% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
34% 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 WILDERNESS SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 26% · 2018 22% · 2019 19% · 2020 16% · 2021 17% · 2022 17% · 2023 15% — 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
48% of THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY draws 92% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 45 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $33M arriving through sponsors registered in 24 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 WILDERNESS SOCIETY is better cushioned than half of the 210 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 210 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $31k on record.
- Department of the Interior$31k
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 WILDERNESS SOCIETY
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
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 36 states
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- The Wilderness Society Action Fund · exempt
- The Wilderness Society Action Fund PAC · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: 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 WILDERNESS SOCIETY?
- THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 492 organizations whose IRS filings report $109,923,707 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($13,249,647). 314 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 492 organizations giving $109,923,707 in grants to THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY, 314 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $13,249,647 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 492 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