New York · Nonprofit
GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE
GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE (New York) receives grants from 64 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,593,068 to it, the largest being THE BLACKSTONE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($600,000). 39 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.6M
- Funders on record
- 64
- Grants received
- $3.6M
- Net assets
- $112k
What Governors Island Alliance does
Mission
Governors Island Alliance dba governors island foundation works to ensure the island's continued growth, vitality, and accessibility as a vibrant public resource and is the designated fundraising partner of the trust for governors island. Working together with the trust and the national park service, the governors island foundation stewards the island's green spaces and builds community through visitor experience, volunteering, membership, and diverse, free programming.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
Effective november 1, 2024, the organization changed its name from friends of governors island to governors island foundation. This change reflects a revised organizational structure and clarification of roles between the foundation and the trust for governors island. Under the revised structure, the governors island foundation serves as the primary fundraising entity in support of the trust. The trust reimburses the foundation for its fundraising expenses, and the foundation grants all funds raised to the trust to support its charitable and programmatic activities. As part of this restructuring, certain functions previously administered by the friends of governors island - including visitor services, volunteer management, and public programs such as pumpkin point and earth day - are now managed directly by the trust. The foundation's activities are focused on fundraising and oversight of the corporate volunteer program. This restructuring was undertaken to clarify operational responsibilities and strengthen alignment between the fundraising and programmatic functions of the two organizations.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Visitor services & community outreach: the foundation provided visitor services to the public on governors island, operating two welcome centers that provide information and essential retail items. The centers also offered free public walking tours to thousands of visitors in 2025. Visitor services staff, volunteers & interns also served as exhibition attendants for public artworks and as event support at free public events such as pumpkin point and earth day of service.
$2,287,653 spentof which $2,023,401 as grants$1,126,206 earned by the program74% of program spendingLandscape stewardship program: the foundation fills a critical role in helping the trust for governors island (tgi) meet the rigorous demands of caring for the island's new and historic landscapes. Together the two organizations work to balance stewardship and sustainability. The foundation supplements tgi's limited budget for horticulture by funding gardeners, tools, plants and equipment, and by leveraging volunteers to ensure the island's green spaces remain in world-class condition. At the same time, the foundation works to document and communicate the performance of the new landscapes over time, serving as a model for sustainable and resilient park care. To meet these goals, in 2023, the foundation funded 1 arborist, 6 full-time gardeners, a full-time volunteer coordinator and 2 seasonal gardeners.
$513,915 spentof which $460,000 as grants17% of program spendingVolunteer program: the foundation volunteer program recruited, trained, deployed and engaged hundreds of active individual volunteersand over2,700 corporate employee volunteersto provide direct services to governors island in horticulture, visitor services, public events, public tours, public art and more. Together, these groups contributed nearly 14,500 hours of service in 2025.
$102,663 spent3% of program spendingThe governors island foundation organized public programs including pumpkin point.
$176,301 spentof which $90,000 as grants6% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,080,532.
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 $665k to $1.1M (+62%).
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 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 2% · 2021 33% · 2022 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
72% of GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (13% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 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
Eb Kelly
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 25 funders, grant income rose $97k → $576k.
18 of 64 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 39% 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 GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 64 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
GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
45% 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 GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 46% · 2018 35% · 2019 27% · 2020 23% · 2021 18% · 2022 13% · 2023 26% — 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.
How long its funders stay
49% of GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% 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 GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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
GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE has grown faster than half of the 1,767 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,767 recreation & sports nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE
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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
80%
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 GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE: 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 GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE?
- GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE (New York) receives grants from 64 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,593,068 to it, the largest being THE BLACKSTONE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($600,000). 39 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE have?
- IRS filings report 64 organizations giving $3,593,068 in grants to GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE, 39 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE?
- THE BLACKSTONE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $600,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GOVERNORS ISLAND ALLIANCE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 2017–2025), and the filings of 64 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