Ohio · Nonprofit
BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY
BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY (Ohio) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $810,233 to it, the largest being BERRIEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($193,650). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $867k
- Funders on record
- 28
- Grants received
- $810k
- Net assets
- $1.4M
What Black Swamp Bird Observatory does
Mission
To inspire the appreciation, enjoyment and conservation of birds and their habitats through research, education, and outreach.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Education: annually bsbo's education and outreach programs interact directly with more than 25,000 people. These programs have received national accolades. We focus on youth education through wetland investigation network (win) program, which offers students grades k-12 a day-long exploration of the local marsh ecosystem. Through our ohio young birders club for ages 12-18 we encourage, educate, and empower future conservation leaders. The club is used as a model program for many other youth birding clubs across the us. Bsbo business alliance helps build strong support for conservation of natural resources and for future conservation-land acquisition.
$277,151 spent$158,305 earned by the program47% of program spendingResearch: bsbo has conducted avian research since 1992; including studies in the breeding and migration ecology of birds that utilize the local, globally important stopover habitat, monitoring populations, migration routes, and flight altitudes, on passerines, waterfowl, shorebirds, & raptors. Researchers investigate habitats spaning from oak openings in western lucas county ohio, north into southern michigan and the lake erie basin, and east to shaker lakes in cuyahoga county ohio. On average, bsbo bands 12,000 birds annually, more than 700,000 in total. Based on birds per net hours figures, bsbo's navarre marsh banding station is the largest of its kind in the united states.
$235,873 spent$134,727 earned by the program40% of program spendingConservation: habitat conservation and restoration is promoted in nw ohio and other areas of the world where the birds migrate to, from and through, by promoting responsible wind energy, specifically within 3 to 5 miles of the lake erie shoreline, a globally important stopover habitat. The biggest week in american birding 10-day festival attracted 90,000+ birdwatchers to nw ohio annually, who spent an estimated $40 million in the area. Bsbo's work with local businesses, tourism departments, chambers of commerce, and community leaders ensures this event builds support for migratory bird habitat conservation. During the spring of 2020 and 2021, this event was held virtually due to covid-19 precautions and restrictions, yet still continuing to support the community and the organization's mission.
$76,659 spent$43,786 earned by the program13% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $589,683.
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 $960k to $1.4M (+42%).
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: 2021 15%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
60% of BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (86% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Kim Kaufman
Executive director
Board chair
Don Bauman
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $20k → $104k.
10 of 28 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 71% 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 BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 24% 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
85% 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 BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 36% · 2019 28% · 2020 28% · 2021 48% · 2022 48% · 2023 46% — 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
38% of BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% 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
71% of BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $235k that is directly attributable, 89% of it comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $575k arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 6,435 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 6,435 animals nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY
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 Ohio
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY: 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 BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY?
- BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY (Ohio) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $810,233 to it, the largest being BERRIEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ($193,650). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY have?
- IRS filings report 28 organizations giving $810,233 in grants to BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY?
- BERRIEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $193,650 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BLACK SWAMP BIRD OBSERVATORY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 Black Swamp Bird Observatory →
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 28 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