Washington · Nonprofit
CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH
CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH (Washington) receives grants from 47 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,962,641 to it, the largest being GARY E MILGARD FAMILY FOUNDATION - MARK ($1,640,938). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.1M
- Funders on record
- 47
- Grants received
- $3.0M
- Net assets
- $4.4M
What Center for Whale Research does
Mission
The Center for Whale Research (cwr) is dedicated to the study and conservation of the pacific northwests killer whale populations, with a primary focus on the critically endangered southern resident killer whales. Building on half a century of continuous research in the salish sea, cwr advances understanding of killer whale behavior, health, and ecology and translates science into conservation action - restoring chinook salmon, protecting vital ecosystems, and inspiring public stewardship through education and outreach.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
The organizations core activity is the systematic documentation of the southern resident killer whales (srkw) through its ongoing orca survey. Staff conducted 93 encounters during the year (46 with srkw) documenting 4 new births and 3 deaths, with the population currently numbering 74 individuals. Data generated through orca survey contributed directly to four peer-reviewed scientific publications and has been used in research that received international media attention, resulting in 639 news stories across 511 unique outlets in 33 countries. These data support broader conservation efforts by informing management decisions and advancing scientific understanding of srkw behavior and ecology. Education and outreach activities supported the core survey program by translating research findings for public audiences and engaging communities in orca conservation. The organization delivered 15 guest events and presentations and welcomed 9,656 visitors to the education center, generating 262 new memberships through peer-to-peer sign-ups. Eight staff members worked in the education center over the summer, educating visitors about the endangered southern resident killer whales and other…
$760,622 spent$173,519 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $760,622.
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 2024 to 2025, from $3.1M to $4.6M (+47%).
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: 2017 41% · 2018 45% · 2019 35% · 2020 3% · 2021 52% · 2022 14% · 2023 15% · 2024 4% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
87% of CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (68% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 9 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.
Board chair
April Smith
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 18 funders, grant income rose $141k → $205k.
9 of 47 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 28% 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 CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 47 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
CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH leans on a few funders — its largest provides 55% of grant income and the top three 75%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
31% 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 CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 88% · 2019 60% · 2020 43% · 2021 84% · 2022 43% · 2023 49% — broadly stable.
“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
48% of CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 51% 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
86% of CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH's grant income comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $833k 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
CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 234 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 234 science & tech nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $826k on record.
- Department of Commerce$826k
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 CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH
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 Washington
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
95% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH: 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 CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH?
- CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH (Washington) receives grants from 47 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,962,641 to it, the largest being GARY E MILGARD FAMILY FOUNDATION - MARK ($1,640,938). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH have?
- IRS filings report 47 organizations giving $2,962,641 in grants to CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH, 24 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH?
- GARY E MILGARD FAMILY FOUNDATION - MARK is the largest funder on record, with $1,640,938 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington. 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 Center for Whale Research →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 47 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing