Michigan · Nonprofit
MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch
MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch (Michigan) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $291,387 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($127,797). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 86% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $242k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $291k
- Net assets
- $474k
What MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch does
Mission
Scientific Research on the migration of birds in the Straits of Mackinac located between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. We also engage in educational and public information associated with this research.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Owl Banding and Research. Owls are netted and banded during the spring and fall migration. Data on the owls is recorded and shared with appropriate scientific research groups. In 2025 475 owls were captured and tagged.Northern Saw Whet Owls are the primary species studied but other species are tagged when caught.
$22,130 spentof which $26,360 as grants20% of program spendingHawk Count by species during Spring and Fall migrations. During the Spring and Fall raptors of 20 different species were counted and categorized by day. During the spring and fall migration 75418 raptors were counted and categorized in Mackinaw City and 8070 on Mackinac Island All data was recorded and shared with other scientific organizations. In 2025 MSRW caught and banded 127 raptors representing 8 species The birds were safely released. Red-tailed Hawks that were fitted with transmitters over the last four years continue to be monitored.
$31,721 spentof which $20,936 as grants28% of program spendingWater bird migration during 2025 migrants representing 52 different species were counted. The results were tabulated by day and recorded. Data was shared with appropriate scientific research organizations.
$8,582 spentof which $6,500 as grants8% of program spendingMSRW provides public information and education through a Raptor Naturalist program at the count sites. The naturalist provides information to the public, verbal and in print, about the birds that are seen overhead and explains the count techniques. In addition, the organization administrator and contractual researchers are available to give talks about the organization's research activities and goals.
$10,399 spent9% of program spendingIn 2024, MSRW began a new project to increase the gathering of information on bird migration through the Straits of Mackinac. A project of Birds Canada, the Motus network is "a collaborative global research network that uses automated radio telemetry to track small flying organisms." MSRW is constructing an array of six towers in the Straits and surrounding areas to capture migration information and share it with the public. A grant was awarded to support construction work in 2024 and 2025 and maintain the data collection. Seven towers were completed, including a pass-through project with the Greenwood Foundation in Wolverine, Michigan. These towers join 40 in Michigan and 200 in 34 countries gathering migration information from nanotags on a wide variety of migrants.
$38,532 spentof which $16,100 as grants35% of program spendingA pilot project in the fall of 2025 was begun to band songbirds. there were 127 birds from 32 species that were banded representing 55.75 volunteer hours of netting and banding.
$0 spent0% of program spendingIn 2025 Monarch Butterflies were tagged in the fall as they begin their migration to Mexico. The microtags are registered with the national Monarch tracking organization so that there might be tracking of individual butterflies who are found in Mexico. Over 100 butterflies were tagged by volunteers.
$20 spent0% of program spending
The 7 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $111,384.
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 $374k to $474k (+27%).
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.
100% of MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (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.
Chief executive
Scott Davis
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income rose $11k → $59k.
4 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 86% 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 MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch’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
MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch leans on a few funders — its largest provides 44% of grant income and the top three 79%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
86% 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 MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 66% · 2021 100% · 2022 46% · 2023 51% — 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
86% of MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $42k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Michigan, across 1 state.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $249k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch 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 MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch
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
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch: 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 MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch?
- MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch (Michigan) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $291,387 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($127,797). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 86% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $291,387 in grants to MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch?
- AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $127,797 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch 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 MSRW Mackinaw Straits Raptor watch →
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 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