Massachusetts · Nonprofit
ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC
ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $23,000 to it, the largest being Hufty Foundation ($23,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $130k
- Funders on record
- 1
- Grants received
- $23k
- Net assets
- $932k
What Organization of Biological Field Stations Inc does
Mission
To assist members in providing infrastructure for exemplary scientific research, innovative & effective learning & informed natural resource stewardship. To enhance the capacity of field stations through training & information sharing. To educate the public and decision makers about the critical role of field stations in scientific research and education. To enhance public support for funding field stations and the activities supported at field stations.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
One of the most important functions of the OBFS is providing networking capacity among about 130 field stations and 40 individual members throughout the world. The professional field station network is maintained with a website that contains a variety of information, such as a map with the locations of member field stations, examples of field station policies, and information on special events, funding opportunities, and jobs postings. A complete revision of the website was finished in 2024 and the OBFS hired a website administrator contractor ($10,495) to maintain the website and spent $3,572 on website maintenance. Annual meetings are a second way that OBFS maintains a professional network. In 2024 the OBFS annual meeting was held in November (to miss peak hurricane season) at The Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, Georgetown, South Carolina. Final expenses of the 2024 meeting were paid in early 2025 ($32,035). The 2025 annual meeting was held at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, Colorado ($8,312). Participants attended workshops on timely topics and heard a variety of speakers and met many other field station managers. Several…
$65,418 spent50% of program spendingAs part of its strategic plan, OBFS worked to increase its international presence. OBFS made a concerted effort to increase international membership by establishing an International Matching Program (Resources spent in 2025 = $16,578). This program brings two or more stations together to deepen networking opportunities throughout our international community or jump start multi-year research projects or collaborations across diverse lands and expertise. Findings from visits are presented at "Virtual Cafe" talks four times annually. These talks are simultaneously translated into English or Spanish ($450). A second related program, the Station Exchange program, provides travel awards for field station staff to visit other field stations in the OBFS network for shadowing, cross-training, and mentoring opportunities as a way to connect with peers (Resources spent in 2025 = $7,831). Finally, OBFS established a mini-grants program to support small research or infrastructure projects that support strategic planning goals (Resources spent in 2025 = $11,300). OBFS is an all volunteer organization and spent $3,422 in office administrative expenses.
$36,159 spent28% of program spendingThe education of the public and decision makers about the critical role of field stations for experiential learning, the blending of art and natural history, and the support of scientific research is a major program service accomplishment of OBFS. The OBFS continues to be a member of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) ($6,250), a confederation of smaller scientific organizations that provides educational, professional, and public policy opportunities on behalf of the group. This year OBFS contributed to Congressional Visits Day, a program sponsored by the American Institute of Biological Sciences. This program allows members to meet with their Congressional state delegation to inform them of the role of field stations in scientific research, conservation, and the education of a new generation of scientists. OBFS also paid the registration fees for 3 members to attend these programs ($5,921). The OBFS continued to support the Virtual Field, an effort to create and distribute virtual learning resources that focused on teaching observational skills through virtual experiences from field stations and marine laboratories to support faculty, students, and others…
$13,563 spent10% of program spendingThe OBFS received a generous grant from the Maxwell | Hanrahan Foundation, San Francisco, CA ($15,0000). In 2024 this grant supported the research of three graduate students at field stations. The success of this program led the Maxwell Hanrahan Foundation to grant an additional $50,000 to support graduate student field research and early career earth sciences research at member field stations in 2026. The OBFS will solicit grant applications from member stations in February 2026 to award grant money for the 2026 field season.
$15,000 spent12% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $130,140.
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 $733k to $860k (+17%).
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.
80% of ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $2k → $9k.
From the IRS filings of ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC’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.
Where its funders are
ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Massachusetts, across 1 state in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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
ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC
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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
95% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
84%
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 ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC: 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 ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC?
- ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $23,000 to it, the largest being Hufty Foundation ($23,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC have?
- IRS filings report 1 organization giving $23,000 in grants to ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC?
- Hufty Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $23,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ORGANIZATION OF BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATIONS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Organization of Biological Field Stations →
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 1 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