Florida · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL INC
FRIENDS OF BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL INC (Florida) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $12,000 to it, the largest being THE AYCO CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($12,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $128k
- Funders on record
- 1
- Grants received
- $12k
- Net assets
- $132k
What Friends of Bonita Estero Rail Trail Inc does
Mission
Friends of BERT exists for the betterment of the greater Lee County community and State of Florida by its mission and activities to support, promote, enhance and protect Bonita Estero Rail Trail in Lee County and its trail connectors now and for future generations and for all other lawful purposes.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Trek Ride for BERT is the organizations signature annual community fundraising and awareness event. The 2025 event was held on November 16, 2025 at Coconut Point Mall in Estero, Florida, offering 15-mile and 30-mile routes. The event drew 449 participants, generating substantial community awareness of the Bonita Estero Rail Trail project and providing direct fundraising support for capital phases of the rail trail. The event generated $23,103.59 in voluntary participant donations (reported as contributions on Form 990-EZ Line 1) and $7,312.65 in required registration fees (reported as event income on Line 6b).
$8,800 spent15% of program spendingThe organization conducts ongoing community outreach, public education, and advocacy activities in support of the Bonita Estero Rail Trail. Activities during 2025 included maintaining the organizations website (bonitaesterorailtrail.com) and active social media presence; participation in community events engagement with Lee County government officials and partner municipalities regarding trail design and right-of-way coordination; coordination with regional planning bodies including the Trust for Public Land
$47,295 spent83% of program spendingThe organization conducts dedicated capital fundraising in support of the design and construction of the Bonita Estero Rail Trail. In 2025, the organization received $34,200.00 in dedicated Capital Fund Contributions from eight donors, of which three individual donors contributed $10,000 eachThese funds are accumulated for application to capital phases of the trail project, including engineering, design, and physical construction in coordination with Lee County and partner agencies
$1,063 spent2% of program spendingIn 2025, the organization made a $100.00 charitable contribution to Naples Pathways Coalition Inc. (Naples, FL), a related advocacy organization that is building the Paradise Coast Trail in Collier County, which is intended to connect with the Bonita Estero Rail Trail.
$100 spentof which $100 as grants0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $57,258.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
1 of 1 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 FRIENDS OF BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL INC’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.
Where its funders are
100% of FRIENDS OF BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL INC'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. Too little is directly attributable to place on a map.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $12k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
FRIENDS OF BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 7,175 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 7,175 community improvement nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like FRIENDS OF BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL INC
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.
Public support
0%
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 FRIENDS OF BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL INC: 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 FRIENDS OF BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL INC?
- FRIENDS OF BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL INC (Florida) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $12,000 to it, the largest being THE AYCO CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($12,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL INC have?
- IRS filings report 1 organization giving $12,000 in grants to FRIENDS OF BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL INC.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL INC?
- THE AYCO CHARITABLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $12,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF BONITA ESTERO RAIL TRAIL INC 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.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2025–2025), and the filings of 1 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