Cloud Mountain Foundation

Cloud Mountain Foundation (CMF) is a New York City-based environmentalist organization led by Benjamin Friedman. The Foundation has given large donations to left-leaning civic and environmentalist organizations such as the Center for Media and Democracy, Democracy Now!, and the Proteus Fund. 1

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3), Private Foundation
Issue Areas: Environmental Policy
Location: New York, NY View on map
Tax ID: 04-3493352
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $120,427,358 Revenue: $7,479,096 Expenses: $4,886,275

Contents

    Funding

    Cloud Mountain Foundation received a total of $133,678 in contributions in 2017, all of which came from Benjamin Friedman, president of the foundation. It operated with a total revenue of $7,386,057, and spent a total of $2,185,386. In 2017 CMF held total assets of more than $51 million. 2

    Leadership

    Benjamin Friedman is the president, founder, and sole listed officer or employee of CMF. 3

    Sarah Stranahan serves as a consultant to the Cloud Mountain Foundation. She currently works as a senior editorial associate for the Democracy Collaborative, a left-leaning organization that, as she claims, “works to carry out a vision of a new economic system where shared ownership and control creates more equitable and inclusive outcomes.” She also served as co-chair on the board of advisors for New Economy Coalition, a left-leaning economic policy advocacy organization. 4

    Organizations Funded

    Left-Wing Media

    Cloud Mountain Foundation made donations of $50,000 in 2017 and $200,000 in 2016 to the far-left Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). CMD operates the websites PRWatch and SourceWatch, two repositories for opposition research targeting business-aligned conservative groups. 5

    CMF made a $40,000 donation to Truthout, 5 an online news outlet categorized as “strongly left-biased” by the online watchdog Media Bias Fact Check. According to the same organization, Truthout has a “mixed” record for factual reporting. 6

    Cloud Mountain Foundation made a $5,000 donation to Democracy Now! in 2017. Democracy Now! is a left-leaning internet and TV news production company that broadcasts on stations such as NPR, PBS, and local college and university stations. 7

    Environmentalist Radicals

    In 2017 CMF made a $30,000 donation to the Ruckus Society, a left-wing organization that trains and supports protestors in the areas of environmentalism. 5 Other Cloud Mountain Foundation grantees include UnKoch My Campus, a far-left organization associated with the radical environmentalist group Greenpeace that aims to pressure schools not to take money from the Charles Koch Foundation and to harass scholars who have associated with the libertarian philanthropists Charles and David Koch. 7

    CMF also made a $15,000 donation to Food and Water Watch, a radical environmental organization that advocates against natural gas exploration, bottled water, and genetically modified foods. 7

    Other Organizations

    Cloud Mountain Foundation made a $50,000 donation to Proteus Fund, a large left-wing pass-through funding entity that funds left-wing organizations that advocate for LGBT interests, aim to reduce religious freedom to publicly dissent from liberal social policy, abolish capital punishment, reduce military spending, and limit electoral campaign advocacy. 5

    Represent.Us lists Cloud Mountain Foundation as having donated between $10,000 and $99,999 in the organization’s lifetime. Represent.Us is a left-leaning organization that advocates for stricter regulations on political speech. 8

    In 2017 CMF made a $20,000 donation to the Movement Strategy Center, a left-leaning organization based in Oakland, California which works with organizations that self-identify as socialist. 5

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $120,427,358 $7,479,096 $4,886,275 View
    2023 $108,366,370 $4,404,091 $6,723,069 View
    2022 $98,731,426 $1,030,000 $3,477,827 View
    2021 $119,745,964 $30,619,231 $3,399,770 View
    2020 $109,710,992 $30,853,842 $5,852,409 View

    Prior year filings: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

    Expenses Detail

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $88,355
    • Number of Grants: 4
    • Number of Funders: 2

    Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $35,0002023 Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc.GENERAL
    $24,0502022 FOOD & WATER WATCHGRASSROOTS LOBBYING

    All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $29,412,525
    • Number of Grants: 726
    • Number of Recipients: 193

    Selection of highest value grants given from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $600,0002020 New England Grassroots Environment Fund, Inc.ENVIRONMENTAL
    $420,0002023 Science & Environmental Health NetworkENVIRONMENTAL
    $325,0002020 Science & Environmental Health NetworkENVIRONMENTAL
    $270,0002023 Columbus Institute for Contemporary Journalism IncorporatedMEDIA
    $270,0002023 SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATIONCIVIC
    $250,0002021 SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATIONCIVIC
    $210,0002024 Science & Environmental Health NetworkENVIRONMENTAL
    $200,0002024 New England Grassroots Environment Fund, Inc.ENVIRONMENTAL
    $200,0002023 New World FoundationCIVIC
    $185,0002022 SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATIONCIVIC
    $177,0002024 SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATIONCIVIC
    $175,0002023 COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUNDENVIRONMENTAL
    $150,0002023 Center for Democratic and Environmental RightsENVIRONMENTAL
    $150,0002023 Center for Health Environment and JusticeENVIRONMENTAL
    $150,0002023 Rose Foundation for Communities and the EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL
    $150,0002021 Center for Media and Democracy IncNEWS AND INFORMATION
    $125,0002020 Berkshire Natural ResourcesENVIRONMENTAL
    $120,0002023 Western Organization of Resource CouncilsENVIRONMENTAL
    $118,0002022 Make Art Not WarCIVIC; CREATIVE ART
    $115,0002020 Center for Media and Democracy IncNEWS AND INFORMATION
    $100,0002024 Center for Media and Democracy IncNEWS AND INFORMATION
    $100,0002024 New World FoundationCIVIC
    $100,0002023 Center for Media and Democracy IncNEWS AND INFORMATION
    $100,0002023 Coalition for Good GovernanceCIVIC
    $100,0002023 Coming Clean IncENVIRONMENTAL

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    Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. 2017 IRS Form 990-PF: Return of Private Organization.
    2. 2017 IRS Form 990-PF: Return of Private Organization. Part I: Analysis of Revenue and Expenses.
    3. 2017 IRS Form 990-PF: Return of Private Organization. Part VIII: Information about Officers.
    4. “User Profile: Sarah Stranahan.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 7, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-stranahan-61164a1a/.
    5. 2017 IRS Form 990-PF: Return of Private Organization. Part XV: Supplemental Information: Grants and Contributions Paid During the Year or Approved for Future Payment.
    6. “Truth Out.” Media Bias/Fact Check. April 7, 2019. Accessed May 15, 2019. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/truth-out/
    7. Cloud Mountain Foundation, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part XV
    8. “Donor List.” Represent.Us. Accessed June 7, 2019. https://represent.us/donor-list/.