California · Nonprofit
Wilderness Youth Project Inc
Wilderness Youth Project Inc (California) receives grants from 99 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,752,607 to it, the largest being Audacious Foundation ($2,799,944). 70 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $6.2M
- Funders on record
- 99
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $6.1M
What Wilderness Youth Project Inc does
Mission
The mission of Wilderness Youth Project (WYP) is to foster confidence, health and a life-long love of learning for young people and families through active outdoor experiences and mentoring. WYP envisions teaching the next generation to be peaceful, respectful and confident stewards of our world.American children spend over 90% of their time indoors. All children need nature. Not just the ones whose families have privilege and easy access to nature. Not only those of a certain race or economic class or culture or gender or sexual identity or language or set of abilities. Partnering with schools and agencies, WYP has increased access to nature connection and outdoor enrichment programs for marginalized youth.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Wilderness Youth Project (WYP) ~ Nature Connection ProgramsNature makes children smarter, healthier, happier, and more likely to care for the planet. In 2025, WYP programs served over 1,300 youth through outdoor enrichment programs: 43 weekly school-year and after-school programs, and 660 summer camp spots serving children ages three through eighteen. Through fundraising, WYP was able to provide scholarships to over 75% of participants.In addition to WYPs youth nature-mentoring programs, Wilderness Youth Project acts as fiscal sponsor to two separate entity programs: REACH and Sea League (SL), described below.
$2,260,457 spent$772,821 earned by the program61% of program spendingREACH (Resilience, Education, Adventure, Community and Health) REACH is a two-and-a-half-year program that provides transformative support and development opportunities for first-generation students as they navigate the transition from high school to postsecondary education and beyond. Through a blend of academic preparation, outdoor experiences, and personal development, REACH helps students build leadership skills, develop meaningful relationships, and engage in formative experiences that prepare them for a successful transition from school to a fulfilling career.REACH serves an average of 173 students annually, beginning in their junior year of high school and continuing through the summer after their first year of college. At any given time, the program supports up to three cohorts simultaneously, providing consistent, multi-year engagement. Even after completing the program, students continue to have access to mentorship, college success resources, and outdoor opportunities as needed.In 2025, REACH was primarily funded by a single donor. While the organization remains primarily supported by one major funder, it has also secured additional support from private foundations and…
$1,003,167 spent$3,203 earned by the program27% of program spendingSea League (TSL) - SL is an after-school program dedicated to providing year-round, equitable opportunities for youth to engage in ocean recreations such as surfing, stand up paddling, kayaking, and environmental education. SL offers a sliding scale fee structure, making programs accessible regardless of economic circumstances. This commitment to inclusivity ensures a welcoming and diverse community, where children from all backgrounds can enjoy and benefit from nature-connected activities, fostering a sense of belonging in ocean spaces.Sea Leagues mission is to create immersive opportunities for youth to explore, play and build community in marine habitats.Sea League served 324 youth participants in 2025, an 84% increase from the previous year. SL delivered ocean-based education through surfing, kayaking, paddleboarding, sailing, and marine science curriculum led by UCSB student mentors. Over 55% of participants received scholarships. Program highlights included the first Anacapa Island snorkeling expedition, the launch of Pelagixa school-based ocean education programand 384 hours of swim instruction.Sea League income for the year ended December 31, 2025 totaled $329,447 and…
$417,321 spent$95,373 earned by the program11% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,680,945.
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 2023 to 2024, from $4.3M to $6.5M (+51%).
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: 2024 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
83% of Wilderness Youth Project Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Daniel Fontaine
Executive Director
Board chair
Carrie Kappel
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 16 funders to 48 funders, grant income rose $527k → $1.6M.
15 of 99 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 17% 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 Wilderness Youth Project Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 99 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
Wilderness Youth Project Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 54% · 2018 58% · 2019 23% · 2020 17% · 2021 13% · 2022 20% · 2023 33% — 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
53% of Wilderness Youth Project Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 71% 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
78% of Wilderness Youth Project Inc's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
Wilderness Youth Project Inc runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,928 youth development nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,928 youth development nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like Wilderness Youth Project Inc
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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
81%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Wilderness Youth Project Inc: 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 Wilderness Youth Project Inc?
- Wilderness Youth Project Inc (California) receives grants from 99 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,752,607 to it, the largest being Audacious Foundation ($2,799,944). 70 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Wilderness Youth Project Inc have?
- IRS filings report 99 organizations giving $10,752,607 in grants to Wilderness Youth Project Inc, 70 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Wilderness Youth Project Inc?
- Audacious Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $2,799,944 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Wilderness Youth Project Inc 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 Wilderness Youth Project →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 99 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