California · Nonprofit
BAYORG
BAYORG (California) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,089,335 to it, the largest being NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ($348,360). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $8.0M
- Funders on record
- 35
- Grants received
- $2.1M
- Net assets
- $-6709266
What Bayorg does
Mission
Bay ecotarium is the largest non-profit 501(c)(3) watershed conservation group in the san francisco bay area committing to global climate resilience and ocean conservation, inspiring actionable environmental stewardship locally, and protecting and preserving biodiversity and ecosystems, from sierra to the sea.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Program #1: exhibitsbay.org, which operates the aquarium of the bay, is accredited by the association of zoos and aquariums. It is the only smithsonian affiliated aquarium in the state of california. It provides approximately 500,000 visitors each year with experiences that educate and inspire conservation of the san francisco bay and its watershed. It is open to the public 364 days a year. The aquarium displays about 24,000 local marine and terrestrial animals in themed galleries that focus on the san francisco bay and regional habitats. The aquarium addresses relevant issues in marine conservation and climate change with exhibitry in seven galleries. The galleries focus on discovering the bay, habitats of local fish, invertebrates, and algae, and includes information on national marine sanctuaries. The jellies go with the flow gallery displays six species of jellyfish along with information on their biology, habitats, and conservation. The nearshore tunnel gallery is a 300-foot walk-through tunnel featuring fish and invertebrates found in the shallower waters of the san francisco bay area. The octopus and friends gallery exhibits octopus, crabs, rockfish, turban snails, and…
$7,503,350 spent$7,686,709 earned by the program85% of program spendingProgram #2: educationbay.org provides a variety of education programs from school groups, youth groups, families, scout troops, and visitors of all ages. Education programs are on the aquarium of the bay premises, at schools, at the sea lion center located at pier 39, and at the ecocenter at heron's head park. Through the many k-12 programs offered at these different locations, bay.org offers free education programs for more than 20,000 students, teachers, and chaperones annually. These education programs are offered at schools within the nine bay area counties (san francisco, san mateo, santa clara, alameda, contra costa, marin, sonoma, napa, and solano). These classes and tours are inquiry-based, hands-on, and immersive learning experiences that are age-appropriate and linked with next generation science standards (ngss) for kindergarten through 12th grade. The number of participants taking part in the bay.org free education programs has increased each year since 2001. Additionally, bay.org offers teacher workshops and events encouraging teachers to engage their students further about the san francisco bay before and after their education program. Bay.org's education department…
$713,529 spent$73,790 earned by the program8% of program spendingProgram #3: field conservationthe san francisco bay has been altered drastically from the pristine estuary that existed in the 1800s. Hundreds of miles of earthen dikes built around the bay's salt marshes served their connection to its tidewaters. The diked marshes were drained and converted to agricultural lands. Their size was reduced by one third. As a result of this wetland destruction, the bay's biological productivity plummeted. One of the main goals of bay.org is to expand and accelerate the effort to protect and restore many of the wetlands that were drained. Further, bay.org employs scientific and policy expertise to promote reforms in the way california manages its water supplies and protects the ecological values of the san francisco bay-delta estuary and its watershed. In addition, to the san francisco bay and its watershed, bay.org is engaged in restoring the related coastal and near-shore ocean areas.
$617,573 spent$251,819 earned by the program7% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $8,834,452.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $6.3M to $4.8M (−24%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 0% · 2021 11% · 2022 10% · 2023 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
17% of BAYORG’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
George Jacob
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021, and between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 8 funders to 6 funders, grant income fell $185k → $169k.
8 of 35 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of BAYORG’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 35 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
BAYORG has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
62% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund BAYORG.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 61% · 2018 26% · 2019 63% · 2020 31% · 2021 33% · 2022 39% · 2023 53% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
30% of BAYORG's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 43% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
BAYORG draws 50% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 10 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $539k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
BAYORG's revenue fell 31% between 2017 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding BAYORG receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $52k on record.
- Department of Commerce$52k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like BAYORG
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BAYORG: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds BAYORG?
- BAYORG (California) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,089,335 to it, the largest being NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION ($348,360). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BAYORG have?
- IRS filings report 35 organizations giving $2,089,335 in grants to BAYORG, 15 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BAYORG?
- NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $348,360 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BAYORG find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Bayorg →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 35 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing