Maine · Nonprofit
Island Institute
Island Institute (Maine) receives grants from 150 organizations whose IRS filings report $21,594,339 to it, the largest being UD W BINGHAM 2ND 070535 ($2,003,000). 102 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $11M
- Funders on record
- 150
- Grants received
- $22M
- Net assets
- $41M
What Island Institute does
Mission
We boldly navigate climate and economic change with island and coastal communities to expand opportunities and deliver solutions.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
Island Institute completed a strategic refresh in March 2025, which was approved by the Board of Trustees. As a part of this process, the organization decided to close the organization's retail store, Archipelago, at the end of calendar year 2025 and wind down the Teaching and Learning Collaborative. The latter program was subsequently transitioned to a partner organization.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Creating a diversified, climate-forward marine economy, by investing in clean marine energy solutions, working waterfront protection efforts, support of sustainable seafood, and collaboration with scientists, policymakers, community leaders and industry experts to address challenges to the lobster industry.
$1,721,984 spentof which $222,311 as grants$67,430 earned by the program26% of program spendingBuilding climate resilience by helping communities adapt in the face of rising seas, warming waters and ocean acidification.
$927,114 spentof which $43,729 as grants$36,304 earned by the program14% of program spendingCultivating community-led solutions through the Island Fellows program, grants, scholarships, education, and workforce pathways experiences.
$1,669,793 spentof which $193,235 as grants$65,386 earned by the program25% of program spendingAncillary programmatic support.
$2,425,440 spentof which $245,200 as grants$94,977 earned by the program36% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,744,331.
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 $34M to $40M (+19%).
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 1% · 2018 2% · 2019 9% · 2020 4% · 2021 9% · 2022 13% · 2023 4% · 2024 6% · 2025 16%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
79% of Island Institute’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 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
Kristin Howard
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 51 funders to 67 funders, grant income rose $2.1M → $2.2M.
21 of 150 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 Island Institute’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 150 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
Island Institute has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 9% of grant income, and it takes 8 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 8 funders to its left
30% 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 Island Institute.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 25% · 2018 19% · 2019 34% · 2020 38% · 2021 16% · 2022 24% · 2023 23% — 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.
How long its funders stay
55% of Island Institute's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 68% 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
Island Institute draws 93% of its grant income from funders outside Maine, across 26 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 16 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
Island Institute runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,794 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding Island Institute receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.7M on record.
- Small Business Administration$1.5M
- Department of Agriculture$1.2M
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 Island Institute
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 Maine
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
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 Island Institute: 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 Island Institute?
- Island Institute (Maine) receives grants from 150 organizations whose IRS filings report $21,594,339 to it, the largest being UD W BINGHAM 2ND 070535 ($2,003,000). 102 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Island Institute have?
- IRS filings report 150 organizations giving $21,594,339 in grants to Island Institute, 102 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Island Institute?
- UD W BINGHAM 2ND 070535 is the largest funder on record, with $2,003,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Island Institute find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maine. 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 150 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