Michigan · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY
FRIENDS OF THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY (Michigan) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $528,100 to it, the largest being THE WALTERS FAMILY FOUNDATION ($345,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2026
- $516k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $528k
- Net assets
- $1.7M
What Friends of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary does
Mission
To fund and support the operations and programs of the thunder bay national marine sanctuary. This includes providing educational opportunities at the sanctuary building and within the sanctuary boundaries.
As stated on its FY2026 Form 990.
Programs
To support operations and programs of the thunder bay national marine sanctuary
$160,896 spent$163,695 earned by the program59% of program spendingProviding educational opportunities at the sanctuary building and within the sanctuary boundaries.
$112,255 spent$86,730 earned by the program41% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $273,151.
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 $685k to $1.2M (+70%).
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 5% · 2018 3% · 2019 1% · 2020 4% · 2021 24% · 2022 30% · 2023 31% · 2024 8% · 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
42% of FRIENDS OF THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 10 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 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $50k → $115k.
2 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 9% 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 THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY’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 THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 65% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder 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 THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 60% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 85% · 2023 100% — 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.
Where its funders are
77% of FRIENDS OF THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY's grant income comes from Michigan funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $50k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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 THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 123 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 123 philanthropy nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2026
Government funding FRIENDS OF THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $100k on record.
- Department of Commerce$100k
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 FRIENDS OF THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY
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 Michigan
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
96% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY: 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 THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY?
- FRIENDS OF THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY (Michigan) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $528,100 to it, the largest being THE WALTERS FAMILY FOUNDATION ($345,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $528,100 in grants to FRIENDS OF THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY?
- THE WALTERS FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $345,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF THUNDER BAY NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Michigan. 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 Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2026 (financials across 2017–2026), and the filings of 5 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