Oregon · Nonprofit
WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER
WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER (Oregon) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,025,932 to it, the largest being MEYER MEMORIAL TRUST ($563,783). 23 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.0M
- Funders on record
- 37
- Grants received
- $2.0M
- Net assets
- $1.6M
What Willamette Riverkeeper does
Mission
Willamette Riverkeeper's guiding principle is: "we believe a river with excellent water quality, abundant natural habitat, safe for fishing and recreation is a basic public right." for 27 years, Willamette Riverkeeper (wrk) has acted as the eyes, ears, and voice of the willamette river by advocating, educating, investigating, restoring, and mobilizing communities across the watershed. In 2024, wrk experienced significant leadership transitions, including the departure of its long-serving executive director of 24 years, travis williams and the passing of long-time board member and friend bob sallenger. Despite these challenges, wrk staff, board, and partners demonstrated resilience and unity, maintaining focus on our mission to protect and restore the willamette river.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Restoration:in 2024, Willamette Riverkeeper (wrk) managed 19 active restoration grants and partner funding contracts across the willamette basin, advancing aquatic and riparian habitat recovery while engaging communities through education, volunteerism, and collaborative science.key accomplishments:- gail achterman wildlife area - completed phases 1 & 2: site preparation, planting, interplanting, and plant establishment.- willamette mission state park - completed phases 4 & 5: expanded site preparation, planting, invasive species treatment (especially in mission lake), and riparian edge restoration.- aquatic invasive species (ais) program - sixth year of oregon state weed board grants,intensifying survey and early-response efforts for ludwigia and other priority species.- supplemental environmental project - in partnership with riverbend materials, implemented two paddle & pull events and ludwigia treatments at willamette slough under a $10,000 agreement.- private landowner engagement - inaugurated a private-funded ais treatment via the courtney family, representing a growing model of co-investment in river health. Collectively, wrk leveraged $423,484 in oweb funding, plus…
$417,948 spentof which $387,641 as grants$42,312 earned by the program58% of program spendingRiver cleanups:in 2024, wrk coordinated 39 river cleanups via the river guardians program, involving 538 volunteers contributing 1,678 service hours - valued at approximately $58,377. Volunteers removed 164 cubic yards of garbage (~65,600 lbs, or 32.8 tons), and ensured proper disposal of hypodermic waste and other hazardous debris.
$216,756 spentof which $71,639 as grants$5,000 earned by the program30% of program spendingRecreation & special events:wrk fosters public connection to the river via recreation, cultural programming, and river education:- willamette river festival 2024 - in eugene, wrk partnered with the city of eugene and oregon paddle sports to host a festival blending paddling races, indigenous cultural performances, educational exhibits, and watershed storytelling.- pinot paddle 2024 - attracted 127 participants (and 17 volunteers) for a scenic paddling tour paired with local food and wine, enriched by habitat interpretation stops.- wild & scenic film festival - held in portland, the festival served as both fundraiser and public education event.- river discovery events - two community canoe trips (in salem and portland) introduced new participants to the willamette's ecological and historical narratives.- mussel surveys - continued basin-wide freshwater mussel monitoring, with a full report and story map expected in 2025.
$85,393 spent$41,941 earned by the program12% of program spendingLegal & legislative advocacy:wrk continued robust policy and legal engagement in 2024 to protect river health and public access:- legislative advocacy - supported funding for the oregon invasive species council; defended recreational immunity proposals; opposed rollback of wake restrictions in the newberg pool.- litigation & legal actions - continued litigation against fema, filed notice to sue odfw for clean water act violations at the leaburg hatchery, and engaged in the j-s ranch cafo case leading to protective local ordinances. Maintained foia litigation with the u.s. Army corps of engineers and negotiated blm withdrawal of the big league timber project. - emerging issues - addressed 6ppd-q runoff toxicity impacts and opposed zenith energy's operations in portland harbor.wrk's constituent mobilization resulted in hundreds of public comments influencing statewide policy decisions. Wrk also participated on two state rulemaking advisory committes, representing environmental and river health interests.
$3,226 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $723,323.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2021 to 2022, from $1.6M to $1.7M (+8%).
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: 2020 26% · 2021 39% · 2022 29% · 2023 37% · 2024 46%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
93% of WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 5 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 6 funders to 12 funders, grant income rose $94k → $209k.
7 of 37 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 WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 37 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
WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 28% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 45% · 2018 77% · 2019 48% · 2020 27% · 2021 19% · 2022 23% · 2023 36% — 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 WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
55% of WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER's grant income comes from Oregon funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $347k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 2,186 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,186 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.6M on record.
- DISTRIBUTION TO NON-GOVERNMENTS$1.5M
- PROFESSIONAL SERVICES NON-IT$127k
- AGENCY PROGRAM RELATED SERVICES$23k
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 WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER
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 Oregon
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
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 WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER: 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 WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER?
- WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER (Oregon) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,025,932 to it, the largest being MEYER MEMORIAL TRUST ($563,783). 23 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER have?
- IRS filings report 37 organizations giving $2,025,932 in grants to WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER, 23 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER?
- MEYER MEMORIAL TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $563,783 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WILLAMETTE RIVERKEEPER find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. 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 Willamette Riverkeeper →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 37 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