Virginia · Nonprofit
Water Environment Federation
Water Environment Federation (Virginia) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $450,029 to it, the largest being THE GREATER NEW ORLEANS FOUNDATION ($169,505). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $31M
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $450k
- Net assets
- $27M
What Water Environment Federation does
Mission
WEF's mission is inspiring the water community in pursuit of human and environmental well-being. WEF is a global environmental leader committed to water quality education and technical best practices. WEF connects water professionals; enriches the expertise of water professionals; increases the awareness of the impact and value of water; and provides a platform for water section innovation.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
WEFTEC is the most comprehensive gathering of water quality professionals and thought leaders, featuring the sector's leading technical education program; an extensive exhibition showcasing the field's most cutting-edge solutions; and a variety of valuable networking opportunities. WEFTEC provides access to the latest technologies, services and products for those looking to design, build, maintain, or upgrade water management systems and programs.
$7,017,258 spentof which $13,219 as grants$18,383,027 earned by the program33% of program spendingTechnical Programs, Seminars, and Workshops - As the leading source of water quality expertise, WEF is committed to advancing the professional workforce development of the water sector through educational seminars and workshops that focus on environmental, sustainability, and public health topics. WEF provides education to water professionals from over 70 countries at WEFTEC as well as at WEF's specialty conferences. WEF's educational content includes all areas of water resources management, including utility management and operations, collection systems, stormwater, water and wastewater treatment, and biosolids. WEF's commitment to the sustainable development goals focus on safe, sustainable access to clean water and sanitation, innovation and a circular economy. WEF provides in-depth education on biological hazards to wastewater operators through virtual workshops and public health communications platforms, and provided a free update to a manual of practice on safety and security of water resource recovery facilities.
$5,685,108 spentof which $11,200 as grants$1,699,128 earned by the program27% of program spendingPublic Outreach & Advocacy - WEF's public outreach and advocacy programs encompass a broad range of activities intended to better inform the public and policy leaders of critical issues and the vital role water resources play in the everyday lives of citizens. These programs include coordinating all interviews and meetings with media/news outlets, writing and dissemination of all society news releases, training society leaders and members in public communications and effective media relations, providing communications counsel to the Federation's various member associations. WEF's water advocates program empowers WEF members to share knowledge and expertise to inform government decision-makers about the importance of water. Water advocates program helps grassroots communities all of the US speak with a united voice for water to reach out to and connect with elected officials on important water quality issues including aging infrastructure, affordability, and continued economic pressures which have put unprecedented stress on local governments and agencies that provide essential water services.
$2,867,795 spentof which $100,869 as grants$73,442 earned by the program13% of program spendingMembership Services - Handles customer service operations, membership recruitment and retention, and engagement with customers, members, member associations and affiliated organizations.
$2,393,945 spentof which $176,720 as grants$3,860,289 earned by the program11% of program spendingPublications and Subscriptions - WEF publishes technical and educational magazines, newsletters, books, technical reports, fact sheets, conference proceedings, and training materials. Water Environment & Technology (WE&T) is the publication professionals read to learn about the latest technologies, trends, and news in water quality. Members receive it monthly as a membership benefit. In addition, the publication is sold on a subscription basis to libraries and other water professionals. WEF publishes digital newsletters, WEFTEC Now and WEF Smartbrief. WEF also publishes Water Environment Research, a peer-reviewed research journal, in partnership with Wiley. WEF publishes an extensive range of peer-reviewed manuals of practice, textbooks, and supplemental texts for classroom use as well as a comprehensive operator training series titled Wastewater Treatment Fundamentals. This training series includes manuals, trainer's kits, companion online training, and study guides. WEF co-publishes Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater with the American Public Health Association and the American Water Works Association. WEF's conference proceedings, magazine features,…
$2,651,607 spent$503,120 earned by the program12% of program spendingGrants & Contracts - Includes funds used to provide subject matter expertise in the development and updating of multiple wastewater unified facility criteria and unified facility guide specs. CDC funds were received to set up a community of practice for correctional facility wastewater surveillance.
$652,762 spent$598,161 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $21,268,475.
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 $31M to $45M (+47%).
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: 2018 0% · 2019 1% · 2020 1% · 2021 10% · 2022 24% · 2023 4% · 2024 9% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
9% of Water Environment Federation’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (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.
Chief executive
Ralph Exton Starting 0724
Secretary & WEF Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income fell $30k → $20k.
4 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 66% 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 Water Environment Federation’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
Water Environment Federation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 38% of grant income and the top three 78%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
100% 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 Water Environment Federation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 63% · 2019 44% · 2020 92% · 2021 100% · 2022 97% · 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
43% of Water Environment Federation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 80% 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
66% of Water Environment Federation'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 $151k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Virginia, across 3 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $299k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
Water Environment Federation is better cushioned 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 Water Environment Federation receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $11.2M on record — $11.2M federal, $11k state.
- Department of Health and Human Services$11.1M
- Environmental Protection Agency$25k
- FL$6k
- MA$3k
- VT$2k
- OK$800
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 Water Environment Federation
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 Virginia
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
96%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 41 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Water Environment Federation: 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 Water Environment Federation?
- Water Environment Federation (Virginia) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $450,029 to it, the largest being THE GREATER NEW ORLEANS FOUNDATION ($169,505). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Water Environment Federation have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $450,029 in grants to Water Environment Federation, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Water Environment Federation?
- THE GREATER NEW ORLEANS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $169,505 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Water Environment Federation find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 10 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