Environmental Defense Fund
Legal name: Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated
Overview
Mission
To preserve the natural systems on which all life depends. Guided by science & economics, we find practical & lasting solutions to the most serious environmental problems. Jennifer Chow helps communities build sustainable food systems while protecting the environment. Sergio Sánchez Healthy communities. The most important environmental law in a generation** , the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, passes with strong bipartisan support after **EDF spent over 15 years advocating to make everyday products safer**. For 40 years, the law that was supposed to protect Americans from dangerous chemicals in everyday products simply didn’t work. The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 was so badly broken that it left the Environmental Protection Agency unable to regulate even known carcinogens like asbestos. Still, numerous efforts to reform the law failed. All that...
What it reported doing in 2024
Protect public health and the environment - in fy 2025, edf relied on data from the methanesat satellite and methaneair flights to provide the first comprehensive global look at how much methane is being emitted by oil and gas producers. At the international maritime organization, edf participated in technical discussions about the shipping decarbonization strategy, focused on efficiency, and a fuel standard. In the u.s., edf helped advance clean affordable energy and permitting for clean energy projects in California, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, North Carolina, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Texas, and other states.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 84% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 116107128
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Aug 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Headquarters
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 2125052100
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 80
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 70
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 71.8%; rating input score 72
- Program expense ratio: 88.2%; rating input score 88
- Fundraising efficiency: $16.31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Pass
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Pass
- Conducts site visits: Pass
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 59.4%; rating input score 59; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 19.5%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.46; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.8%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 71.8% of revenue deployed · 88.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 42 of 42 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $314.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.2M · 57 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.5M reported
- Consistency: 42 of 43 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 165 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 162 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Leadership & pay
57 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Frederic D Krupp (President): $1,233,884 total reported compensation
- Amanda Leland (Executive Director): $678,651 total reported compensation
- Sean Cook (EVP, Chief Administrative Officer): $485,861 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.