Natural Resources Defense Council
“To safeguard the earth: its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.”
2 live lawsuits, 153 comments to the agencies, 76 cents of every dollar to the work.
The origin
How they started
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a legal and policy powerhouse, roughly 700 staff of attorneys, scientists, and advocates who go after federal decisions that threaten land, water, and wildlife. Since 1970 it has built much of the case law that protects public lands, and it remains a constant party in litigation over the Arctic Refuge, BLM leasing, and endangered species. When a rule needs challenging, NRDC is often the one filing.
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
InternationalNRDC has continued to urge the global
$59.6M, 28% of spendingInternationalNRDC has continued to urge the global community to develop comprehensive plans to tackle the biodiversity loss and environmental pollution crises.
Read it as they filed it
INTERNATIONALNRDC HAS CONTINUED TO URGE THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY TO DEVELOP COMPREHENSIVE PLANS TO TACKLE THE BIODIVERSITY LOSS AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION CRISES. NRDC'S INTERNATIONAL WORK LEVERAGES OUR SCIENTIFIC, ECONOMIC, AND POLICY EXPERTISE TO ADVANCE KEY ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE PROGRAMS WITH FAR-REACHING IMPACTS ACROSS THE WORLD. OUR HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS PAST FISCAL YEAR INCLUDE: TO PREPARE FOR THE EFFECTS OF RISING GLOBAL TEMPERATURES, NRDC CONTINUED PROJECTS WITH ITS LOCAL PARTNERS IN INDIA TO INCREASE HEAT RESILIENCE, LAUNCHING HEAT ACTION PLANS AND SUPPORT FOR THE LAUNCH OF THE CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE ON HEAT RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABLE COOLING (CEHSC). IN OUR EFFORTS TO ADVANCE TRANSPORT ELECTRIFICATION, NRDC WITH SUPPORT FROM ITS LOCAL PARTNER, RELEASED ITS FLEET ELECTRIFICATION ROADMAP FOR THE CITY OF HYDERABAD, WHICH SETS TARGETS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES. NRDC CONTRIBUTED TO STANDARDIZE DEVELOPMENT FOR ZONING MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNITIES NEAR NATIONAL PARKS IN CHINA. OUR RESEARCH REVIEWED INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC PRACTICES, ANALYZED THE EXISTING CHALLENGES OF DEVELOPING GATEWAY COMMUNITIES IN CHINA AND PROVIDED RECOMMENDATIONS. THE STANDARD WILL HELP ENSURE PUBLIC ACCESS TO NATURE AND SUPPORT LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BUT ALSO PRESERVE ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY AND REDUCE BIODIVERSITY LOSS.IN WEST AFRICA, NRDC WAS CRITICAL TO THE LAUNCH OF A FIFTEEN-COUNTRY GIS AND MAPPING WORKING GROUP TO ADVANCE REGIONAL IMPLEMENTATION OF SAVING 30 PERCENT OF LANDS, OCEANS, AND INLAND WATER BY 2030 (30 X 30). OUR CONTRIBUTIONS INCLUDED PROVIDING EXPERTISE, TECHNICAL CAPACITY, AND ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION SHARING TO BENEFIT WEST AFRICAN STATES.
IRS Form 990 Part III, fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
76 cents of every dollar goes to the work
Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.
$160,497,279 programs, $24,551,126 management, $26,961,297 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The backers
Backed on the record by David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund and 4 others, latest filing FY24.
The people
Who does the work
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. The FY2025 filing lists two people as president/ceo, Manish Bapna and Christina Goldfuss, usually a handover inside the year. If it’s out of date, tell us. Work at NRDC? Claim this page.
Those 5 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If NRDC is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Find your way inThe record
The court record
And 22 more in our case database: a selection we track, not their full docket.
Fights alongside Sierra Club (17 shared cases), Center for Biological Diversity (13 shared cases), Earthjustice (12 shared cases), Defenders of Wildlife (9 shared cases) and Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (7 shared cases) and 26 more. Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
The filings
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year, as filed. Point at or tap the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $97,057,964 |
| 2012 | $98,701,707 |
| 2013 | $115,962,571 |
| 2014 | $121,617,764 |
| 2015 | $155,192,637 |
| 2016 | $129,809,261 |
| 2017 | $177,129,164 |
| 2018 | $182,319,651 |
| 2019 | $181,821,968 |
| 2020 | $197,585,835 |
| 2021 | $273,728,385 |
| 2022 | $186,185,838 |
| 2023 | $193,144,386 |
| 2025 | $248,922,592 |
From $97.1M in 2011 to $248.9M in FY25, across 14 public filings (none on record for 2024).
On the Hill
NRDC files its own federal lobbying reports: 25 filings from 2019 to 2024, naming 1 bill. The filings, at the Senate.
Most filed on the environment, defense and energy.
The record
On the record with the agencies
153 comments on federal decisions since 2023, each filed under the group’s own name on regulations.gov. The latest on decisions we track:
Year by year
The record, in order
- 1970Natural Resources Defense Council is formed.the return, formation year
- 20012001 to 2025: 24 cases filed, all since closed: Healthy Gulf v. DOI; Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance v. Bernhardt and 22 more.the docket
The other 22
2020, Organized Village of Kake v. Vilsack, closed; 2017, S. Utah Wilderness Alliance v. Burke, closed; 2011, Organized Village of Kake v. United States Department of Agriculture, won; 2011, State of Alaska v. United States Department of Agriculture, closed; 2014, In re Big Thorne Project & 2008 Tongass Forest Plan, lost; 2008, Wyoming v. United States Department of Agriculture, closed; 2018, Mass. Lobstermen’s Ass’n v. Ross, won; 2018, Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. U.S. Department of the Interior, closed; 2018, State of California v. Zinke, closed; 2018, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. Stewart, closed; 2001, Tulare County v. Bush, won; 2022, Garfield County v. Biden, closed; 2023, Center for Biological Diversity v. Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2016, Western Organization of Resource Councils v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2016, Wilderness Workshop v. United States Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2009, San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority v. Salazar, closed; 2009, Jayne v. Rey, closed; 2019, SalmonState v. Hladick, closed; 2019, Native Village of Nuiqsut v. Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2015, Dine Citizens Against Ruining our Environment v. Jewell, closed; 2015, Juliana v. United States of America, closed; 2025, Alaska Forest Association v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, won.
- 2020Natural Resources Defense Council v. Bureau of Land Management: plaintiff, still in court.the docket
- 2021First appears in John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s grants.the funder’s return
- 2022First appears in the grants of David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Resources Legacy Fund, Walton Family Foundation and William & Flora Hewlett Foundation.the funders’ returns
- 2023State of Alaska v. The United States Department of Agriculture: intervenor, still in court.the docket
- 4 comments, most to NOAA, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- First appears in Pew Charitable Trusts’ grants.the funder’s return
- 20246 comments, most to NOAA, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- 202519 comments, most to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- 2026124 comments, most to NOAA, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
Rust, a case still in court. Green, a funder’s return. Hollow, a filing. Every row is a record we hold: 27 federal cases with the group on the docket, 153 comments filed under its own name, 7 funders whose returns name it. Nothing here is written from memory.
Their ground
The places they defend
Co-plaintiff in the federal suit over the 2017 boundary cuts
Who’s defending it In the fight · On this place: 1 case in federal court, filed 2024Tongass National ForestParty to the Tongass Roadless Rule litigation
Who’s defending it In the fight · Threat developingColorado BLM Lease SaleCo-filer of the challenge over BLM’s failure to allow public comment on the sale
Who’s defending itMost urgent first: open comment windows, then live federal cases, then the threat level. See every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
Natural Resources Defense Council files 3 related organizations on its return: Nrdc Action Fund INC (501(c)(4)), Nrdc Action Fund INC PAC (527) and Nrdc Action Votes (527). A related organization shares people or purpose; it does not share the books.
Ways in
How to help
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗SpeakComment and callOpen comment windows and call scripts for fights like these, ready to send.
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The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.