Florida · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON INC
FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON INC (Florida) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $445,120 to it, the largest being GLENN W BAILEY CHARITABLE TRUST ($80,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $540k
- Funders on record
- 18
- Grants received
- $445k
- Net assets
- $673k
What Friends of Manatee Lagoon Inc does
Mission
Dedicated to expanding environmental education opportunities for all ages in Palm Beach County and beyond through future enhanced exhibits and experimental learning opportunities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Marine Conservation Efforts : FOML's marine conservation initiatives build community, advance environmental literacy, and directly support our mission to protect manatees, marine mammals, and their habitats. In 2025, we hosted and participated in a range of conservation education and engagement events, mobilizing the public around meaningful environmental action.Donor Stewardship & Conservation Awareness - FOML opened 2025 with a dual-purpose gathering: honoring major donors from the fall 2024 Soire for Seagrass and deepening community awareness of FOML's conservation work. Hosted at the home of Victoria and Scott Exnicios, the event drew 90 guests and featured an educational demonstration by FOML board member Jack Lighton.Citizen Science - Drift Card Program FOML partnered with the Angari Foundation on its biannual drift card program, which tracks how currents carry debris through local waterways. FOML engaged the community in decorating and releasing drift cards into Lake Worth Lagoon at two organized events in 2025 turning a scientific exercise into a hands-on public experience.Teacher Conservation Camp - FOML provided meals for a week-long summer camp led by the Angari…
$22,960 spent$88,929 earned by the program52% of program spendingExhibits & Educational Programming : One of FOML's newest investments is a traveling pop-up science station a branded, rolling cabinet equipped with a sink, display space, and storage. The station gives Manatee Lagoon staff a versatile educational tool for high-traffic days and quieter periods alike, ensuring visitors always have a meaningful learning experience even when manatees aren't present. FOML also purchased supplemental hands-on materials for the station, including a collection of mammal skulls that allow docents to illustrate how different species adapt to their environments. Fully portable and FOML-branded, the station can be deployed at off-site locations and special events as needed.FOML also made critical infrastructure investments in the seagrass nursery, funding a new pump and piping system designed to draw water directly from Lake Worth Lagoon into the three-tank system and return it closely replicating real lagoon conditions to support healthy seagrass growth. To oversee the setup and ensure a successful launch, FOML hired Heather Seaman as on-site seagrass tank coordinator, covering her hourly wages as the system came fully online.
$16,200 spent36% of program spendingVolunteer Program : Volunteers are central to FOML's ability to deliver on its mission. As our programming grows, so does our need for a reliable, passionate corps of supporters who bring their time, talent, and commitment to our work.FOML actively cultivates its volunteer base through a targeted email campaign reaching 100+ individuals who have expressed interest through our website or direct outreach. Our volunteer coordinator herself a volunteer manages onboarding, program orientation, scheduling, and recognition.During peak visitor seasons, FOML volunteers staff a dedicated desk at Manatee Lagoon, fielding questions about the organization, manatee biology, and the importance of seagrass as a critical food source. Volunteers also represent FOML at ManateeFest (10,000+ visitors), the Soire for Seagrass, Loggerhead Marinelife Center's Turtlefest, and numerous community tabling events throughout the year.
$5,330 spent12% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $44,490.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 $485k to $673k (+39%).
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.
97% of FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (86% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 6 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
Anne Messer
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 12 funders, grant income rose $10k → $196k.
5 of 18 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 FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON 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.
How concentrated its funding is
FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% 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
35% 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 FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 100% · 2022 42% · 2023 31% — 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.
Where its funders are
91% of FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON INC's grant income comes from Florida funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $145k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 3,693 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,693 animals nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON 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.
Where the money goes
14% 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 FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON 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 MANATEE LAGOON INC?
- FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON INC (Florida) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $445,120 to it, the largest being GLENN W BAILEY CHARITABLE TRUST ($80,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON INC have?
- IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $445,120 in grants to FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON INC, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON INC?
- GLENN W BAILEY CHARITABLE TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $80,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF MANATEE LAGOON 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.
Play a game about who funds Friends of Manatee Lagoon →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 18 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