Work with local governments for protection and restoration of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence river.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
73¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 17 volunteers and 4 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2024 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
1 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average deficit $6K a year · under 1% of revenue · last 5 filings
Concern: a surplus in 1 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
73%
of spending
Fine: 73% of spending went to programs; 65% to 75%.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$414K
to officers and key staff · 26% of spending
Worth a look: pay to officers and key staff is 26% of spending; over 20%.
Pt VII · Sec A
4 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 3.8 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $1.1M
Fine: 1 funder names it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$196K
31% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 31% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
21
of 21 voting members
Looks good: 21 of 21 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$1.5M
+5% vs prior year
Spent
$1.6M
To programs
73%
Net assets
$435K
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$1.5M
FY2024▲ +5%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$285K
FY2021$830K
FY2022$527K
FY2023$1.4M
FY2024$1.5M
Expenses
$1.6M
FY2024▲ +16%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$369K
FY2021$436K
FY2022$684K
FY2023$1.4M
FY2024$1.6M
Net assets
$435K
FY2024▼ -28%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$91K
FY2021$773K
FY2022$616K
FY2023$605K
FY2024$435K

From the FY2024 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

Give Claim

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Jun 2006.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

73 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 73% · $1.2M Management & general 19% · $309K Fundraising 8% · $122K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

25 people listed on the 990; $414K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
President/CEO
$192,213Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Ops and Programs Officer
$111,045Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Policy Officer
$111,045Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Jonathan Altenberg’s $192K as President/CEO is at the 64th percentile of top reported officer pay among 2832 $1–10M community development nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 4 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Jonathan Altenberg$192,213$171,647$159,021$141,547$97,981
Brdiget Brown$111,045$104,829———
Travis Wheeler$111,045$110,134———
Hon Betty Sutton————$50,861

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

See Great Lakes and St Lawrence Cities executive salaries →

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Partners with local governments to protect and restore Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

Questions for Great Lakes and St Lawrence Cities

Tap to ask. Great Lakes and St Lawrence Cities sees how many people are interested.

Your first name shows with your question. Great Lakes and St Lawrence Cities answers here, for everyone.

Provided by the organization

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1 program · $1.2M · in their own filed words · FY2024
01

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…

$1.2Mprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2024
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$1.1M

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$1.5M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$1.4M
Investment incomeLn 3$10K
Other incomeLn 4–11$4K
Money outPt IX
$1.6M
Ln 25
Programscol B$1.2M
Managementcol C$309K
Fundraisingcol D$122K
Owns and owesPt X
$435K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$511K
Total assetsLn 16$631K
LiabilitiesLn 26$196K
PeoplePt VI, VII
25
listed · VII A
PaidVII A3
Voting boardVI 1a21
IndependentVI 1b21
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$1.4M
Government grantsLn 1e$75K
Investment incomeLn 3$10K
Other incomeLn 4–11$4K
Total revenueLn 12$1.5M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$56K
SavingsLn 2$455K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$511K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$5K
Other assetsLn 15$92K
Total assetsLn 16$631K
LiabilitiesLn 26$196K
Net assetsLn 32$435K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 54
VolunteersI 617
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13No
Records policyVI 14No
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$375K$511K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$7K$5K
Total assetsLn 16$685K$631K
LiabilitiesLn 26$80K$196K
Net assetsLn 32$605K$435K
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$196K$109K$64K$23K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$442K$245K$144K$53K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$13K$7K$4K$2K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$26K$14K$8K$3K
Payroll taxesLn 10$52K$29K$17K$6K
Accounting feesLn 11c$21K$4K$17K$849
Professional fundraising feesLn 11e$38K$38K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$694K$662K$38K−$6K
Office expensesLn 13$21K$11K$9K$506
Information technologyLn 14$13K$8K$4K$1K
TravelLn 17$59K$59K
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$41K$41K
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$3K$3K
InsuranceLn 23$5K$3K$2K$459
Total functional expensesLn 25$1.6M$1.2M$309K$122K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 Latest Viewing $1.5M$1.6M−$170K$435K 990 PDF
FY2023 $1.4M$1.4M−$11K$605K 990 PDF
FY2022 $527K$684K−$158K$616K 990 PDF
FY2021 $830K$436K$394K$773K 990 PDF
FY2020 $285K$369K−$84K$91K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support J · Pay O · Explanations
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,453,373 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $1,387,600$1,438,976
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $0$0
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $0$10,056
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $0$4,341
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $1,387,600$1,453,373
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $0$0
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $610,437$728,925
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$37,730
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $787,879$856,976
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $1,398,316$1,623,631
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year −$10,716−$170,258
Part VI · Governance 21 of 21 board members independent, 2 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body21
VI-1b Independent voting members21
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyNo
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyNo
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,453,373 across 6 lines filed
Lines not itemized here account for $4,341 of total revenue; see the IRS return.
VIII-1b Membership dues$192,318
VIII-1e Government grants$75,386
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$1,171,272
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$1,438,976
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $10,056$10,056
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $14,397$1,453,373
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,623,631 across 14 lines filed
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $109,102 · Management $63,742 · Fundraising $23,059$195,903
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $245,124 · Management $143,796 · Fundraising $53,017$441,937
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $6,924 · Management $4,322 · Fundraising $2,036$13,282
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $14,261 · Management $8,366 · Fundraising $3,084$25,711
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $28,893 · Management $16,950 · Fundraising $6,249$52,092
IX-11c Accounting feesPrograms $3,689 · Management $16,579 · Fundraising $849$21,117
IX-11e Professional fundraising feesFundraising $37,730$37,730
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $662,263 · Management $38,452 · Fundraising −$6,286$694,429
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $11,205 · Management $8,843 · Fundraising $506$20,554
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $8,323 · Management $3,783 · Fundraising $1,135$13,241
IX-17 TravelPrograms $58,679$58,679
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $40,905$40,905
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationManagement $2,695$2,695
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $3,367 · Management $1,530 · Fundraising $459$5,356
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $1,192,735 · Management $309,058 · Fundraising $121,838$1,623,631
Part X · Balance sheet $630,567 assets, 14 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $375,247$55,555
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investments$455,056
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $243,750$21,709
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $2,016$1,836
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $7,474$4,779
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $56,310$91,632
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $684,797$630,567
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $68,931$190,536
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $11,011$5,434
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $79,942$195,970
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $302,530$142,033
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $302,325$292,564
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $604,855$434,597
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $684,797$630,567
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $434,597 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$1,453,373
XI-2 Total expenses$1,623,631
XI-3 Revenue less expenses−$170,258
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$604,855
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$434,597

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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