Florida · Nonprofit
DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (Florida) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,619,871 to it, the largest being THE HENRY E BECKER AND PAULINE S BECKER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($966,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $879k
- Funders on record
- 11
- Grants received
- $1.6M
- Net assets
- $945k
What Dolphin Biology Research Institute does
Mission
Building on the foundation of the world's longest-running study of a wild dolphin population, the sarasota dolphin research program improves the lives of dolphins through: 1) research on dolphins in the wild to better understand how they live, how they interact with their environment, and how they are affected by human activities; 2) translating scientific research into conservation action; 3) sharing what we have learned via public eduction and outreach, scientific publications and presentations, and training researchers and future conservation leaders around the world.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Conducting biological research through field studies of the behavior and ecology of bottlenose dolphins including:(1) collecting biological, behavioral, ecological, and health data of importance to the conservation of small cetaceans, especially bottlenose dolphins,(2) providing requisite information for bottlenose dolphin conservation to wildlife management agencies,(3) disseminating the information generated by our program to scientific and general audiences in order to aid dolphin conservation efforts,(4) using our model program to develop and refine hypotheses regarding bottlenose dolphins in other parts of the species' range as well as other species of small cetaceans,(5) using the established natural laboratory to develop and test new research tools and methodologies of potential benefit to conservation efforts,(6) training cetacean conservation workers and students from around the world in the use of these techniques,(7) applying our unique program expertise to dolphin rescue operations and post-release follow-up monitoring, and (8) applying the information we gather from free-ranging dolphins to improve the quality of care for dolphins in zoological park settings.
$793,409 spent$330,966 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $793,409.
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 2023 to 2024, from $723k to $902k (+25%).
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.
58% of DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (79% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 5 funders, grant income rose $40k → $143k.
7 of 11 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 33% 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 DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE’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
DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 60% of grant income and the top three 84%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
33% 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 DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 62% · 2018 58% · 2019 64% · 2020 46% · 2021 55% · 2022 43% · 2023 70% — growing more concentrated.
“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
86% of DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
100% of DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE's grant income comes from Florida funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $531k 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
DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE has grown faster than half of the 453 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 453 science & tech nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
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 Florida
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
94% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
57%
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 DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE: 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 DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE?
- DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (Florida) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,619,871 to it, the largest being THE HENRY E BECKER AND PAULINE S BECKER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($966,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $1,619,871 in grants to DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE?
- THE HENRY E BECKER AND PAULINE S BECKER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $966,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DOLPHIN BIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Florida. 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 Dolphin Biology Research Institute →
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 11 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