California · Nonprofit
WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION
WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $969,490 to it, the largest being THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($400,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.4M
- Funders on record
- 14
- Grants received
- $969k
- Net assets
- $6.3M
What Western Flyer Foundation does
Mission
To stir curiosity through marine research, education, and a blend of science and art inspired by john steinbeck, ed ricketts, and their journey on the western flyer.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The foundation maintained and operated the historic research vessel western flyer as the primary platform for its education, research, and outreach activities. During the fiscal year, the vessel supported expanded programming in monterey bay and completed its first extended expedition to mexico. Operational activities included vessel maintenance, onboard systems management, and crew support necessary to safely conduct all programs.
$1,241,792 spent69% of program spendingThe Western Flyer Foundation served over 1,700 students through marine science and place-based education programs delivered aboard the research vessel western flyer and in classroom and shore-based settings. Programs included at-sea and docked vessel experiences, a mentorship program, and science illustration and nature journaling. Activities took place in monterey bay and during a 4,700-mile, 100-day gulf of california expedition, which also supported pilot research conducted with scientific partners and contributed to datasets for ongoing research and future educational use.
$386,333 spent$29,488 earned by the program21% of program spendingThe foundation conducted public outreach activities in california and mexico through events, presentations, free public vessel tours, and dockside programming, engaging approximately 10,000 community members.the foundation also advanced production of its short film,we simply liked it, extending its educational and storytelling reach.
$174,369 spent10% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,802,494.
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 2021 to 2022, from $3.3M to $5.1M (+56%).
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: 2023 9% · 2024 12% · 2025 30%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
95% of WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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.
Chief executive
Sherry Flumerfelt
Executive director
Board chair
Tom Keffer
Board president
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 6 funders, grant income rose $50k → $135k.
3 of 14 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 73% 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 WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION’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
WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 80%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
95% 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 WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 99% · 2022 100% · 2023 74% — 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
73% of WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION'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 $263k that is directly attributable, 95% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $707k 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
WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION has grown faster than three-quarters of the 9,398 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,398 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.6M on record.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$1.6M
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 WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
52%
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 WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION: 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 WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION?
- WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $969,490 to it, the largest being THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($400,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 14 organizations giving $969,490 in grants to WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION?
- THE OREGON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $400,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WESTERN FLYER FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Western Flyer →
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 14 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