Energy Foundation China
Legal name: The Energy Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 943126848
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- San Francisco, California, USA
- Phone
- +1 415-277-5006
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $109,226,201
- Expenses
- $82,890,976
- Assets
- $141,600,498
- Liabilities
- $20,774,000
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ZOU JI (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- ZOU JI (CEO): $539,671 total reported compensation
- DAVID VANCE WAGNER (SECRETARY): $369,786 total reported compensation
- FANG YUWEI (COO/TREASURER): $322,912 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To advance China's transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy through grantmaking, research, and policy engagement.
What it reported doing in 2024
In 2024, the energy foundation granted to organizations and institutions that help address climate change and accelerate the low carbon energy transition. Grants were made for education and analysis to find and support solutions in areas including clean energy vehicles, renewable energy, low carbon growth planning, sustainable cities, and energy efficiency. To support its grantmaking in china, the energy foundation's expenditures in 2024 included the salary and benefits of around 90 staff members, office rental, equipment costs, and other operational expenses related to maintaining the foundation's beijing representative office.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 77% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 75
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 73
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 70.4%; rating input score 70
- Program expense ratio: 92.1%; rating input score 92
- Fundraising efficiency: $59.18 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- 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: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Pass
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 24.1%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.71; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -5.9% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -4.6% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 70.4% of revenue deployed · 92.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $76.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $540K · 20 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.8M reported
- Consistency: 35 of 37 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 30 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 14 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 4 of 8 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 39/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.