Sierra Club
“To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth.”
4 live lawsuits, 30 comments to the agencies, 81 cents of every dollar to the work.
The origin
How they started
Founded by John Muir in 1892, the Sierra Club is the oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization in the country, with chapters in every state and hundreds of thousands of members. It works the full toolkit at once: organizing volunteers, lobbying Congress, and taking federal agencies to court. On public lands its fights run from defending national monuments and the Roadless Rule to challenging oil and gas leasing across the West.
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
Membership, Chapter and Volunteer Activities
$13.7M, 16% of spendingSupport and funding of 64 volunteer-led chapters and approximately 446 groups, building a broad-based volunteer membership that helps advance the organization’s environmental advocacy, public education, and community…
Read it as they filed it
MEMBERSHIP, CHAPTER AND VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES: SUPPORT AND FUNDING OF 64 VOLUNTEER-LED CHAPTERS AND APPROXIMATELY 446 GROUPS, BUILDING A BROAD-BASED VOLUNTEER MEMBERSHIP THAT HELPS ADVANCE THE ORGANIZATION'S ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCACY, PUBLIC EDUCATION, AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZING TO ADVANCE ITS SOCIAL WELFARE MISSION. LOCAL AND STATES ACTIVITIES INCLUDE PUBLIC COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION ON CLIMATE, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND CONSERVATION ISSUES; RAISING AWARENESS ABOUT CITY, COUNTY, AND STATE POLICIES; MOBILIZING MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS TO TAKE ACTION ON LOCAL AND STATE ADVOCACY INITIATIVES; AND HOSTING COMMUNITY EVENTS.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Information and Education
$9.3M, 11% of spendingCalendar & other merchandise, sierra (the organization’s magazine), communications group includes print and non-print media activities and digital strategies (mission is to align the online activities and technological…
Read it as they filed it
INFORMATION AND EDUCATION: CALENDAR & OTHER MERCHANDISE, SIERRA (THE ORGANIZATION'S MAGAZINE), COMMUNICATIONS GROUP INCLUDES PRINT AND NON-PRINT MEDIA ACTIVITIES AND DIGITAL STRATEGIES (MISSION IS TO ALIGN THE ONLINE ACTIVITIES AND TECHNOLOGICAL INVESTMENTS WITH ITS BROADER GOALS OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, ADVOCACY, AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT).SIERRA MAGAZINE: PUBLISHED 4 ISSUES PER YEAR WITH AN AVERAGE PRINT RUN IN EXCESS OF 355,000 MAGAZINES, EDUCATING READERS ON ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP, RESPONSIBLE USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR CIVIC ACTION.CALENDAR & OTHER MERCHANDISE: OFFERED SIERRA CLUB BRANDED MERCHANDISE ABOUT NATURE OR THE ENVIRONMENT FOR SALE DIRECTLY TO THE PUBLIC AND OTHER RESELLERS, SUPPORTING THE ORGANIZATION'S EDUCATIONAL AND ADVOCACY PROGRAMS.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Outdoor Activities
$5.2M, 6% of spendingIn 2025, Sierra Club outings offered impactful outdoor experiences that connected people to nature while advancing environmental education and bringing members to the organization’s larger conservation campaigns.
Read it as they filed it
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES: IN 2025, SIERRA CLUB OUTINGS OFFERED IMPACTFUL OUTDOOR EXPERIENCES THAT CONNECTED PEOPLE TO NATURE WHILE ADVANCING ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND BRINGING MEMBERS TO THE ORGANIZATION'S LARGER CONSERVATION CAMPAIGNS. THROUGH LOCAL CHAPTERS, GROUPS, AND SECTIONS, AS WELL AS THE NATIONAL OUTINGS PROGRAM AND CAMPAIGN-SPECIFIC OUTINGS, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PARTICIPANTS WERE ENGAGED IN WAYS THAT DEEPENED THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES. THE INSPIRING CONNECTIONS OUTDOORS (ICO) PROGRAM, FOR EXAMPLE, RAN 226 TRIPS FOR 4,265 YOUTH AND ADULTS - PRIMARILY FROM UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES - PROVIDING HANDS-ON ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ABOUT ECOSYSTEMS, CONSERVATION ISSUES, AND THE ROLE OF PUBLIC LANDS IN CLIMATE RESILIENCE. THE NATIONAL OUTINGS PROGRAM OFFERED 78 DOMESTIC AND 34 INTERNATIONAL TRIPS TO 1,274 PARTICIPANTS, INTEGRATING LEARNING ABOUT LOCAL FLORA, FAUNA, GEOLOGY, AND CONSERVATION HISTORY, OFTEN INCORPORATING VOLUNTEER WORK LIKE TRAIL RESTORATION TO BUILD AWARENESS OF HOW ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP ALIGNS WITH SIERRA CLUB CAMPAIGNS. LOCAL CHAPTERS AND GROUPS ORGANIZED APPROXIMATELY 4,769 OUTINGS WITH 21,000 PARTICIPANTS, RANGING FROM NATURE HIKES TO ADVOCACY TRAINING, EDUCATING PEOPLE ON PRESSING REGIONAL ISSUES LIKE WATER CONSERVATION, HABITAT PROTECTION, AND CLIMATE CHANGE, AND EMPOWERING THEM TO TAKE ACTION. THE MILITARY OUTDOORS PROGRAM, AS PART OF OUTDOORS FOR ALL AND SUPPORTED BY LOCAL OUTINGS, SUPPORTED VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY MEMBERS WITH THERAPEUTIC OUTDOOR EXPERIENCES THAT PROMOTED HEALING, CONSERVATION, AND ADVOCACY. ACROSS ALL PROGRAMS, SIERRA CLUB OUTINGS NOT ONLY CONNECTED MEMBERS TO NATURE BUT ALSO INSTILLED ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES AND A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY, REINFORCING THE CLUB'S MISSION TO EXPLORE, ENJOY, AND PROTECT THE PLANET THROUGH DIRECT EDUCATION AND ALIGNMENT WITH SIERRA CLUB'S CONSERVATION GOALS.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
81 cents of every dollar goes to the work
A good sign, not a scorecard: what matters is the extremes, and this is nowhere near one.
$68,613,824 programs, $12,273,763 management, $4,008,229 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The backers
Backed, each with its source, by National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club Foundation, Emmett Foundation and 14 others, latest filing FY25.
The people
Who does the work
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. If it’s out of date, tell us. Work at the Sierra Club? Claim this page.
Those 10,895 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If the Sierra Club is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Find your way inThe record
The court record
And 57 more in our case database: a selection we track, not their full docket.
Fights alongside Center for Biological Diversity (23 shared cases), Natural Resources Defense Council (17 shared cases), Defenders of Wildlife (13 shared cases), Alaska Wilderness League (10 shared cases) and The Wilderness Society (9 shared cases) and 36 more. Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
The filings
12 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year as filed. Point at or tap the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2013 | $98,154,894 |
| 2014 | $104,369,291 |
| 2015 | $109,178,887 |
| 2016 | $115,963,544 |
| 2017 | $141,369,673 |
| 2018 | $143,677,959 |
| 2019 | $156,717,329 |
| 2020 | $152,278,896 |
| 2021 | $152,093,074 |
| 2022 | $167,540,907 |
| 2023 | $173,425,083 |
| 2025 | $83,752,990 |
From $98.2M in 2013 to $83.8M in FY25, across 12 public filings (none on record for 2024).
The returns as e-filed with the IRS, 3 years:
- FY2025Download the return
- FY2024Download the return
- FY2023Download the return
Source: IRS Form 990 e-file data, each return by its IRS object id, served by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. A year in the chart without a link here is read from a later return’s own history table; its return is on ProPublica’s page for the group.
On the Hill
The Sierra Club files its own federal lobbying reports: 45 filings from 2019 to 2026, naming 243 bills. The filings at the Senate.
Most filed on energy, the environment and natural resources.
The record
On the record with the agencies
30 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
In order
- 1892Sierra Club is formed.the return, formation year
- 20012001 to 2026: 58 cases filed, all since closed: Friends of the Everglades, Inc. v. Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Bureau of Reclamation and 56 more.the docket
The other 56
2025, Healthy Gulf v. Doug Burgum, closed; 2025, Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges v. Burgum, closed; 2025, Defenders of Wildlife v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, closed; 2025, Friends of the Earth v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, closed; 2025, American Farm Bureau Federation v. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, closed; 2024, Center for Biological Diversity v. Lee Zeldin, closed; 2024, Healthy Gulf v. DOI, closed; 2023, Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic v. United States Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2023, Sierra Club v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, closed; 2023, Friends of the Inyo v. U.S. Forest Service, closed; 2023, Sovereign Inupiat for a Living Arctic v. Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2020, Sierra Club v. DOE, closed; 2020, Organized Village of Kake v. Vilsack, closed; 2020, Citizens for a Healthy Community v. United States Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2020, Friends of Alaska Nat’l v. Debra Haaland, closed; 2022, Dakota Resource Council v. U.S. Department of the Interior, closed; 2022, Garfield County v. Biden, lost; 2022, Greater Hells Canyon Council v. Wilkes, closed; 2022, DOW v. USFWS, closed; 2019, Sierra Club v. Donald Trump, closed; 2019, SalmonState v. Hladick, closed; 2019, Center For Biological Diversity v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2019, Native Village of Nuiqsut v. Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2019, Montana Environmental Information Center v. Bernhardt, closed; 2017, S. Utah Wilderness Alliance v. Burke, closed; 2017, Sierra Club, Inc. v. U.S. Forest Service, won; 2017, Citizens for Clean Energy v. U.S. Department of the Interior, closed; 2015, Havasupai Tribe v. Heather Provencio, lost; 2015, WildEarth Guardians v. United States Bureau of Land Management, won; 2015, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. U.S. Forest Service, closed; 2021, Wild Virginia v. United States Forest Service, closed; 2021, Defenders of Wildlife v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, on appeal; 2021, Friends of the Earth v. Haaland, lost; 2021, Alaska Wildlife Alliance v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, closed; 2018, United States Forest Service v. Cowpasture River Preservation Assn., lost; 2018, Cowpasture River Preservation v. Forest Service, won; 2018, State of California v. Zinke, closed; 2014, In re Big Thorne Project & 2008 Tongass Forest Plan, lost; 2005, Karuk Tribe v. United States Forest Service, won; 2008, Wyoming v. United States Department of Agriculture, closed; 2016, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, 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, Alliance for the Wild Rockies v. Lyder, closed; 2009, Jayne v. Rey, closed; 2013, Grand Canyon Trust v. Williams, closed; 2011, State of Alaska v. United States Department of Agriculture, closed; 2007, American Forest Resource Council v. Hall, closed; 2006, Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. Federal Highway Administration, closed; 2001, Kootenai Tribe of ID v. Glickman, closed; 2026, Center for Biological Diversity v. Burgum, closed; 2026, Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, closed; 2026, Center for Biological Diversity v. Burgum, closed; 2026, Healthy Gulf v. Burgum, closed; 2026, Northern Alaska Environmental Center v. Burgum, closed; 2026, Northern Alaska Environmental Center, et al. v. Burgum, et al., closed.
- 2017Wilderness Society v. Donald J. Trump: plaintiff, still in court.the docket
- 2020Gwich’in Steering Committee v. United States Department of the Interior: plaintiff, still in court.the docket
- 2021First appears in Energy Action Fund’s grants.the funder’s return
- 2023State of Alaska v. The United States Department of Agriculture: intervenor, still in court.the docket
- 5 comments to federal agencies, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management among them, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- First appears in the grants of National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club Foundation, Sixteen Thirty Fund and Western Conservation Action.the funders’ returns
- 202415 comments, most to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- First appears in Emmett Foundation’s grants.the funder’s return
- 20256 comments, all to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- First appears in the grants of Alaska Conservation Foundation and Nrdc Action Fund.the funders’ returns
- 2026Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges v. U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers: plaintiff, still in court.the docket
- 4 comments, most to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
Rust, a case still in court. Green, a funder’s return. Hollow, a filing. Every row comes from a public record: 62 federal cases with the group on the docket, 30 comments filed under its own name, 17 funders whose returns name it. Nothing here is written from memory.
Their ground
The places they defend
Co-plaintiff in the coastal plain leasing litigation
Who’s defending it On the record · Critical threatMark Twain National ForestIts Missouri Chapter joined Heartwood and the Missouri Forest Alliance in an October 2024 formal objection to the revised forest plan over removed roadless areas, lead mining, and subsidized commercial logging.
Who’s defending it On the record · Threat developingLos Padres National ForestPlaintiff in the litigation that stopped new oil leasing on the Central Coast acreage now targeted again by BLM
Who’s defending it On the record · Threat developingSonoran Desert National MonumentThe Grand Canyon Chapter has been co-plaintiff with Western Watersheds Project in the monument grazing litigation, including the 2021 case that produced the 2024 restricted-grazing plan.
Who’s defending it On the record · Threat developingAllegheny National ForestLongtime co-plaintiff in litigation against Forest Service timber projects on the Allegheny, including the East Side clearcutting case
Who’s defending it On the record · On watchBerryessa Snow Mountain National MonumentFought industrial wind proposals on Molok Luyuk and, in a coalition with Tuleyome, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and others, worked with Rep. Garamendi to add the ridge to the monument.
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.
Sierra Club files 6 related organizations on its return: The Sierra Club Voter Education Fund (527), Sierra Club Independent Action (527), Sierra Club Political Committee (527), Sierra Club Nevada PAC (527), Sierra Club Independent Georgia PAC (527) and Sierra Club Coordinated Georgia PAC (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.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapStand with the Sierra Club
The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.