Save the Redwoods League
San Francisco, CA · EIN 94-0843915. Reported 121 grants totalling $13.7M to 75 organizations across tax years 2020-2023, 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 Save the Redwoods League, the IRS classifies it under environment rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE C360) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 75 distinct organizations, with 36% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 36% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 57% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% private foundations manage. A list that turns over this much is one a newcomer can realistically join.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $8,000. Half of what it reported fell between $6,000 and $29,958; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $2,903,730. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Park Service | Crescent City, CA | $4,970,512 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| California State Parks | Sacramento, CA | $3,792,171 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| State Coastal Conservancy | Oakland, CA | $1,013,373 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Cal Poly Humboldt Sponsored Programs Foundation | Arcata, CA | $850,578 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Regents of the University of California at Berkeley | Riverside, CA | $358,845 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Peninsula Open Space Trust | Palo Alto, CA | $356,250 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sempervirens Fund | Mountain View, CA | $356,250 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Landpaths | Santa Rosa, CA | $352,001 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Colorado State University Sponsored Programs | Fort Collins, CO | $223,785 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Yurok Tribe | Klamath, CA | $216,140 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| University of California Davis | Davis, CA | $203,192 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin | Madison, WI | $80,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Fortuna Elementary School District | Fortuna, CA | $72,521 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Northern Arizona University | Flagstaff, AZ | $61,155 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness | Ukiah, CA | $47,300 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Mother Lode Land Trust | Jackson, CA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Humboldt County Office of Education | Eureka, CA | $36,753 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy | San Francisco, CA | $35,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Point Reyes Bird Observatory | Petaluma, CA | $30,363 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| San Francisco State University | San Francisco, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Washington State University | Renton, WA | $29,958 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Santa Cruz County Office of Education | Santa Cruz, CA | $25,615 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Ancient Forest Society | S Lake Tahoe, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Regents of the University of California at Irvine | Irvine, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| California Native Plant Society | Sacramento, CA | $24,870 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University | Stanford, CA | $23,887 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| First Place for Youth | Oakland, CA | $23,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Cumbre Humboldt | Arcata, CA | $19,116 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $17,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Exploring New Horizons | Santa Cruz, CA | $17,000 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Mountain Parks Foundation of Santa Cruz | Felton, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| San Mateo Resource Conservation District | Half Moon Bay, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Smith River Alliance Inc | Crescent City, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Regents of the University of California at Riverside | Riverside, CA | $14,595 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Tower Foundation of San Jose State University | San Jose, CA | $14,025 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| California State University East Bay Foundation Inc | Hayward, CA | $13,837 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Brothers on the Rise | Oakland, CA | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Harbor Community Development Corp | Wilmington, CA | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Foundation | San Mateo, CA | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Santa Lucia Conservancy | Carmel, CA | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Vida Verde Nature Education | San Gregorio, CA | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Youth Spirit Artworks | Berkeley, CA | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria | Laytonville, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Leggett Valley Elementary and Middle School | Laytonville, CA | $10,000 | 2 | 1 | 2020 |
| Regents of the University of California | Santa Cruz, CA | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Community Initiatives | Oakland, CA | $7,880 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Camp Phoenix | Oakland, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Centro Del Pueblo Movimiento Indigena Migrante | Arcata, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Civicorps | Oakland, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Coastal Watershed Council | Santa Cruz, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Community School for Creative Education | Oakland, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Eel River Recovery Project Inc | Loleta, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Friends of Santa Cruz County Parks | Santa Cruz, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Friends of Sausal Creek | Oakland, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Petaluma City Schools Mcdowell Elementary | Petaluma, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Queer Sol Collective Inc | Valley Center, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Real Options for City Kids | San Francisco, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Robla School District | Sacramento, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Santa Monica Mountains Fund | Westlake Vlg, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Saved By Nature | Campbell, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Social Good Fund Inc | Richmond, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Wilderness Arts and Literacy Collaborative | San Francisco, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Ukiah Unified School District | Ukiah, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wildcare | San Rafael, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Winters Joint Unified School District | Winters, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| City of Fresno Parcs | Fresno, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| City of Watsonville Environmental Science Workshop | Watsonville, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Environmental Volunteers Inc | Palo Alto, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Greenfield Community Science Workshop | Greenfield, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Redwood Community Action Agency | Eureka, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Sonoma State University | Rohnert Park, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods | Duncans Mills, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| United Camps Conferences & Retreats | Petaluma, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Unity Schools | Oakland, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Yes Nature to Neighborhoods | Richmond, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
26 of 75 (35%) received money in more than one year over the 4 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 State Parks
TRAIL CONSTRUCTION AND RESTORATION - Humboldt State University Sponsored Programs Foundation
APPRENTICESHIP, RESTORATION AND RESEARCH - Landpaths
GROVE OF OLD TREES PRESERVATION AND EDUCATION - Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council
EDUCATION AND STEWARDSHIP
What kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 42 of 75 recipients we could match to a registered organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses -- 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 | 31 | $5,151,074 | $6,027 |
| 2021 | 28 | $6,164,315 | $12,766 |
| 2022 | 30 | $1,085,542 | $10,027 |
| 2023 | 32 | $1,315,041 | $6,766 |
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
97% 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.
Down to the city
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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 the strongest signal available that two funders have overlapping priorities -- and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
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 $8,000 -- 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 Save the Redwoods League's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 33 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 0 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: 111 Sutter Street 11TH Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94104.
EIN 94-0843915 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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