Illinois · Nonprofit
GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE
GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE (Illinois) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,061,978 to it, the largest being CHARLES STEWART MOTT FOUNDATION ($950,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.5M
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $3.1M
- Net assets
- $435k
What Great Lakes and St Lawrence Cities Initiative does
Mission
Have the mayors whose population and towns (and economy) that rely on the great lakes water to form a bi-national coalition and will actively work with federal, state and provincial governments to advance the protection and restoration of the great lakes ecosystem through development and implementation of a comprehensive great lakes protection and restoration plan. Mayors will become active participants in great lakes issues relating to governance, economics and science.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
Significant new program activities were undertaken. In addition to expanding coastal resilience support and introducing the turtle island award, the organization launched the mayors commission on economic transformation to develop and implement a 30-year action plan for the great lakes and st. Lawrence basin, aimed at creating a blue-green economic corridor.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Various programs supporting the organization's mission including: 1) establish a great lakes cities initiative, under which mayors will work jointly to advance the restoration and protection of the great lakes ecosystem; 2) resilient coastal project initiative, provided consulting assistance for communities in illinois, minnesota, ohio, pensylvania, new york, michigan and wisconsin; 3) seek partnerships and collaborate with other levels of government, various commissions and panels, and other organizations involved in great lakes issues; 4) implement and advance existing mayoral initiatives concerning the great lakes; 5) call upon the u.s. Congress and canadian parliament to appropriate funds for the development, by an independent panel of science and policy experts which includes the member mayors, and deliver a detailed plan for the protection and restoration of the great lakes. This plan will be updated as various issues arise and will serve as a blueprint to guide agreed-upon future legislative and appropriations activities that restore and protect the great lakes ecosystem; 6) identify, evaluate. Highlight and share information with each other about successful local…
$1,192,735 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,192,735.
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 2020 to 2021, from $196k to $778k (+296%).
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: 2021 13% · 2023 5% · 2024 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (61% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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.
Chief executive
Jonathan Altenberg
President/CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 9 funders, grant income rose $200k → $475k.
1 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% 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 GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE’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
GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 31% of grant income and the top three 73%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
25% 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 GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2020 49% · 2021 24% · 2022 45% · 2023 36% — 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
67% of GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 54% 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
GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE draws 67% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 5 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $107k 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
GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE has grown faster than three-quarters of the 4,203 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,203 community improvement nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $658k on record.
- Department of Commerce$628k
- Department of Transportation$30k
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 GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
73% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
68%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Alliance Des Villes Des Grand Lacs · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE: 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 GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE?
- GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE (Illinois) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,061,978 to it, the largest being CHARLES STEWART MOTT FOUNDATION ($950,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $3,061,978 in grants to GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE?
- CHARLES STEWART MOTT FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $950,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GREAT LAKES AND ST LAWRENCE CITIES INITIATIVE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 Great Lakes and St Lawrence Cities Initiative →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 13 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