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California · Nonprofit

TRANSITION US

TRANSITION US (California) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $435,165 to it, the largest being Yavanna Foundation ($187,500). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2023
$125k
Funders on record
15
Grants received
$435k
Net assets
$52k
6/15 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 51%
01What it does

What Transition US does

Mission

Our mission is to catalyze and strengthen a national network of citizen-powered groups who are building local resilience through community action. We will accomplish our mission by inspiring, encouraging, supporting, networking, and training individuals and their communities as they consider, adopt, adapt, and implement the transition approach to community empowerment and change.

As stated on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ.

Programs

  1. Communications: another major aspect of our mission is to communicate the vision of the transition movement and encourage people throughout the us to get involved. To facilitate this, we maintain an educational website, send out monthly newsletters to many subscribers, and share information with our followers on social media.

    $3,349 spent
    6% of program spending
  2. National gathering: a virtual summit brought together over a thousand participants for various sessions, keynotes, workshops, and open spaces. The event aimed to unite attendees, leaders, and practitioners dedicated to creating a more regenerative and just world. It offered rich educational and networking opportunities and allowed the organization to showcase new strategies and emerging projects for the upcoming year.

    $544 spent
    1% of program spending
  3. Training courses program: Transition US conducted two leadership training programs: one focused on regenerative leadership for social change and another centered on building a social justice community of practice.

    $353 spent
    1% of program spending
  4. Other programs - include transition streets & ready together programs, national campaigns, and online events.

    $48,919 spent
    92% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $53,165.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($182k) Expenses 100 ($176k) Net assets 100 ($71k)2018 Revenue 75 ($137k) Expenses 86 ($151k) Net assets 77 ($55k)2019 Revenue 93 ($170k) Expenses 88 ($155k) Net assets 100 ($72k)2020 Revenue 77 ($139k) Expenses 100 ($175k) Net assets 45 ($32k)2021 Revenue 117 ($213k) Expenses 107 ($187k) Net assets 80 ($57k)2022 Revenue 80 ($145k) Expenses 110 ($194k) Net assets 12 ($9k)2023 Revenue 69 ($125k) Expenses 46 ($82k) Net assets 73 ($52k)
2017201820192020202120222023
Revenue (69)Expenses (46)Net assets (73)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $61k to $9k (−86%).

$76k
$63k
$77k
$62k
$61k
$9k
$52k
2017201820192020202120222023
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 20%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

100% of TRANSITION US’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 4,629 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

$6k
’17
−$14k
’18
$15k
’19
−$36k
’20
$25k
’21
−$48k
’22
$43k
’23
3.9
months of
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

Nathan Lou

Interim executive director

Board chair

Ana Rosa Rizo-Centino

Board chair/president

As listed on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ.

03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 5 funders to 2 funders, grant income fell $94k → $3k.

5 of 15 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 32% 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 TRANSITION US’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

TRANSITION US leans on a few funders — its largest provides 43% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

40% 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 TRANSITION US.

43%
largest funder
71%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 32% · 2018 53% · 2019 53% · 2020 60% · 2021 71% · 2022 75% · 2023 99% — 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

42% of TRANSITION US's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 40% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

TRANSITION US draws 90% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 7 states in all.

MN
NY
MA
PA
CA
DE
TX

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $139k 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

TRANSITION US runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 4,135 environment nonprofits its size.

Operating margin35% · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)−6% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,135 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2023

Organizations like TRANSITION US

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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Public support

72%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

CA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for TRANSITION US: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 TRANSITION US?
TRANSITION US (California) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $435,165 to it, the largest being Yavanna Foundation ($187,500). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does TRANSITION US have?
IRS filings report 15 organizations giving $435,165 in grants to TRANSITION US, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of TRANSITION US?
Yavanna Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $187,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like TRANSITION US 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 Transition US →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2023 (financials across 2017–2023), and the filings of 15 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