California State Parks Foundation
San Francisco, CA · EIN 94-1707583. Reported 100 grants totalling $6,565,293 to 53 organizations across tax years 2020-2024, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For California State Parks Foundation, the IRS classifies it under recreation & sports rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE N32) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 53 distinct organizations, with 79% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is extreme concentration. A grantmaker sending three quarters of its money to one organization is in practice a support fund for that organization, whatever its classification says, and an unsolicited request is very unlikely to go anywhere.
- How much its list changes. 42% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 4 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 56% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% median for private foundations. It describes the organizations it already funds, not whether it would consider a new one.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $10,000. Half of what it reported fell between $9,996 and $22,416; the smallest was $5,420 and the largest $2,062,344. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
2 of those grants were non-cash -- goods, property or services worth $212,552 in total. In-kind giving is real support but it is not a cheque.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Department of Parks and Recreation | Sacramento, CA | $5,155,333 | 15 | 5 | 2024 |
| Literacy for Environmental Justice | San Francisco, CA | $156,555 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| California Coastal Commission | San Francisco, CA | $143,100 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Committee for Clean Water Natural Resources and Parks | Sacramento, CA | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs Inc | Calabasas, CA | $83,139 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Crystal Cove Conservancy | Newport Coast, CA | $74,900 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Gold Discovery Park Association | Coloma, CA | $47,602 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Friends of Lakes Folsom and Natoma | Folsom, CA | $46,565 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Malibu Creek Docents | Calabasas, CA | $46,450 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| South Yuba River Citizens League | Nevada City, CA | $44,992 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Central Coast State Parks Association | Sn Luis Obisp, CA | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Los Angeles River State Park Partners | Los Angeles, CA | $33,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Los Angeles Audubon Society Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $29,970 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Sonoma Ecology Center | Eldridge, CA | $29,860 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks | Santa Cruz, CA | $26,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Redwood Parks Conservancy | Crescent City, CA | $22,793 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Xerces Society Inc | Portland, OR | $22,416 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mountain Parks Foundation of Santa Cruz | Felton, CA | $22,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Anahuak Youth Soccer Association | Los Angeles, CA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Friends of Sutters Fort Inc | Sacramento, CA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Nature Nexus Institute | Culver City, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods | Duncans Mills, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| California Native Plant Society | Sacramento, CA | $19,996 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Ranger Foundation | Auburn, CA | $19,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association | Lower Lake, CA | $18,246 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Regents of the University of California | Oakland, CA | $17,966 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Boosters of Old Town San Diego State Historic Park | San Diego, CA | $17,295 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Chino Hills State Park Interpretive Assocation | Brea, CA | $15,858 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Point Lobos Foundation | Carmel, CA | $15,120 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| San Luis Rey Mission Indian Foundation | Vista, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Coastside State Parks Association | Pescadero, CA | $14,750 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Friends of San Diego Wildlife Refuges Inc | Imperial Bch, CA | $11,408 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Bear Yuba Land Trust | Grass Valley, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Climate Resolve | Los Angeles, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Cyark | Oakland, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Disabled Hikers | Carlsborg, WA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Empowerment Works Inc | Santa Barbara, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Green Cities Fund Inc | Berkeley, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hills for Everyone | Brea, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Mendocino Area Parks Association | Mendocino, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Napa Valley State Parks Association | Saint Helena, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Negus in Nature | Marietta, GA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Portola and Castle Rock Foundation | La Honda, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Redwood Trails Alliance | Santa Rosa, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship | Santa Cruz, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Student Conservation Association Inc | Arlington, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Test Plot Inc | Berkeley, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Torrey Pines Association | Del Mar, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Foundation for the Preservation of the Santa Susana Mountains | Woodland Hls, CA | $9,650 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Amigos De Bolsa Chica | Huntingtn Bch, CA | $9,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Poppy Reserve Mojave Desert Interpretive Association | Lancaster, CA | $9,280 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Friends of China Camp Inc | San Rafael, CA | $6,613 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sierra State Parks Foundation | Tahoe City, CA | $5,936 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
22 of 53 (42%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- California Department of Parks and Recreation Candlestick Point State Recr
EARTH DAY 2021 SUPPORT FOR YOSEMITE SLOUGH OPEN HOUSE EVENT, YOSEMITE SLOUGH PROJECT - California Department of Parks and Recreation
2022 WILDFIRE RESILIENCY PREVENTION GRANT; 2023 CA STATE PARKS WEEK; 2023 EARTH DAY GRANT; 2023 MONARCH CONSERVATION; 2023 STATE PARKS IMPROVEMENT; ANNUAL DISTRIBUTION - California Department of Parks and Recreation Silver Strand State Beach
ANNUAL SILVER STRAND GRANT - Literacy for Environmental Justice
YOSEMITE SLOUGH PLANT STORAGE AND DELIVERY FEES - Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs
DEC 2021: MONARCH GRANT; FEB 2022: BUILDING CLIMATE RESILIENT PARKS GRANT; MAR 2022: PAD TRAVEL GRANT FOR STATE PARKS FAIR - California Coastal Commission
FISCAL SPONSORSHIP DISBURSEMENTS FOR ADOPT A BEACH AND COASTAL CLEAN-UP DAY
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 37 of 53 recipients we could match to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's, not ours -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 25 | $2,687,459 | $10,000 |
| 2021 | 29 | $581,732 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | 19 | $1,523,786 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 13 | $1,003,669 | $10,000 |
| 2024 | 14 | $768,647 | $16,560 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
99% of its giving went to organizations in California. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $10,000 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in California.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from California State Parks Foundation's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Recipient classifications, the concentration and retention figures and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations from them, described in how we build this.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 13 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 1 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 235 Montgomery Street 1202, San Francisco, CA, 94104.
EIN 94-1707583 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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