Friends of Acadia
Friends of Acadia reported $12.7 million in revenue and $13.6 million in expenses for calendar year 2025. Of every $100 it spent, $82.83 went to program services, $7.87 to management and general costs and $9.30 to fundraising. Its largest source of revenue was contributions and grants: 52.4% of the total. The highest compensation it reported for one person was $329,449 (President & CEO). 8 people received more than $100,000 in reportable compensation. Revenue rose 71% between 2019 and 2025. Source: Form 990, 2025.
Where $100 of spending went
Calendar year 2025 · Form 990, Part IX, line 25 · total expenses $14MFor context, the median across 371 covered environment charities: $85.82 programs, $10.80 management, $3.38 fundraising (medians computed separately, so they may not sum to $100).
Where $100 of revenue came from
Calendar year 2025 · Form 990, Part VIII · total revenue $13MOther revenue was negative: −$308K. The bar shows the positive sources only.
The 990 scorecard · same measures for every charity, no grades
| Measure | 2025 | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Program services Part IX 25(B) ÷ 25(A) | 82.8% | 83.6% |
| Management & general Part IX 25(C) ÷ 25(A) | 7.9% | 10.5% |
| Fundraising Part IX 25(D) ÷ 25(A) | 9.3% | 3.3% |
| Fundraising cost per $1 of contributions Part IX 25(D) ÷ Part VIII 1h | $0.19 | $0.03 |
| Contributions & grants share of revenue Part VIII 1h ÷ 12 | 52.4% | 87.6% |
| Government grants share of revenue Part VIII 1e ÷ 12 | 0.0% | 4.8% |
| Program service revenue share Part VIII 2g ÷ 12 | 0.0% | 3.2% |
| Highest reported compensation Part VII-A, columns D–F | $329,449 | $293,532 |
| Highest compensation as share of expenses Part VII-A ÷ Part IX 25(A) | 2.42% | 1.74% |
| People paid over $100,000 Part VII, line 2 | 8 | 7 |
| Net assets, in months of expenses Part X 33(B) ÷ monthly expenses | 88.0 | 18.8 |
| Independent voting board members Part VI 1a–1b | 24 of 24 | 100.0% |
A median is context, not a target: hospitals, universities, food banks and grantmakers spend in very different ways. What these measures can and can't tell you.
What the money paid for, in its own words
2025 · Form 990, Part III · the three largest programs by expenseFriends of Acadia makes grants from its Acadia Trails Forever project fund to the ANP trails program to maintain the park's 153 miles of trails. In 2025, the Trail crew undertook significant repairs to the Hunters Beach Trail and the North and South Bubble Trails. They also completed the rehabilitation of the Bubbles Divide Trail and worked with volunteers to install 500 feet of raised cedar boardwalk along the Hemlock Path, restoring natural water flow through the Great Meadow. They built two stone staircases and improved drainage along the Valley Peak Trail and completed additional sections…
The Carriage Road maintenance grants help to make possible the salaries of several Acadia National Park workers and interns who perform regular maintenance of the park's 44 miles of historic carriage roads. In 2025, the carriage road crew repaired washouts, graded 5 miles of carriage roads, and spread 150 tons of surface materials. They cleaned four miles of road ditches and, flushed culverts. They surveyed 138 of the documented vistas on the carriage roads and worked to clear 43 of those, including supervising volunteers who worked on 12 vistas
Additionally, Friends of Acadia contributes to a variety of community outreach events such as the Earth Day Roadside Clean-up and Soil to the Summits hikes. In partnership with Acadia National Park, Friends implements and contributes to other programs including the Summit Stewards, the Wild Garden of Acadia, the Recreation Technicians, the Acadia Winter Trails Association, the Island Explorer, invasive plant eradication, the peregrine falcon and hawk watch program, Acadia Teacher Fellows Program, water quality monitoring, rehabilitation of historic buildings, and a volunteer program that…
Highest reported compensation
2025 · Form 990, Part VII, Section A · roles as filed; names are in the filing, not here| Role | From this org | From related orgs | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President & CEO Officer, 40.00 hrs/week | $259,687 | $0 | $69,762 | $329,449 |
| Vice President of Development Highest compensated employee, 40.00 hrs/week | $160,998 | $0 | $64,828 | $225,826 |
| Vice President of Finance & CFO Officer, 40.00 hrs/week | $189,385 | $0 | $23,280 | $212,665 |
| Vice President of Conservation Highest compensated employee, 40.00 hrs/week | $135,685 | $0 | $20,595 | $156,280 |
| VP of Communications & Marketing Highest compensated employee, 40.00 hrs/week | $131,500 | $0 | $13,811 | $145,311 |
| Development Officer for Major Gifts Highest compensated employee, 40.00 hrs/week | $123,386 | $0 | $19,980 | $143,366 |
| Accounting Manager Highest compensated employee, 40.00 hrs/week | $111,585 | $0 | $19,390 | $130,975 |
8 people received more than $100,000 in reportable compensation from Friends of Acadia (Part VII, line 2). Compensation of current officers, directors and key employees totaled $542K (Part IX, line 5).
7 years of filings
Form 990, Parts I, VII, IX and X · each row is that year's own filing, linkedGovernance answers, as filed
2025 · the organization's own yes/no answers; explanations, if any, are in Schedule O of the filing · what each means- Voting board members, and how many are independent Part VI, lines 1a–1b24 · 24 independent
- Audited financial statements Part XII 2bYes
- Conflict-of-interest policy Part VI 12aYes
- Whistleblower policy Part VI 13Yes
- Document retention policy Part VI 14Yes
- Independent process for top executive pay Part VI 15aYes
- Board given the 990 before filing Part VI 11aYes
- Family or business ties among insiders Part VI 2No
- Aware of a significant diversion of assets Part VI 5No
- Excess benefit transaction with an insider Part IV 25aNo
- Loans to or from insiders outstanding Part IV 26No
- Lobbying, or a 501(h) election in effect Part IV 4No
- Over $15,000 of professional fundraising services Part IV 18No
- Over $10,000 of activity outside the U.S. Part IV 14bYes
- Employees Part I, line 540
- Volunteers Part I, line 6746
Largest outside contractors
2025 · Form 990, Part VII, Section B · businesses only| Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc Engineering Consulting | $298,531 |
Individuals listed as contractors are left out. 3 contractors were paid more than $100,000 in all.
Private foundation grants it received
51 private foundations reported grants to Friends of Acadia totaling $2.4M on their tax year 2023 Form 990-PF returns. See which foundations, on WHOFUNDS.
Source: WHOFUNDS open grant graph, matched from Form 990-PF Part XV.
Correct a figure or respond
Every number above is copied from Friends of Acadia's own Form 990. If one doesn't match the filing, that's our error and we'll fix it. If you work for Friends of Acadia, you can publish a response that is linked from this page.
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Of every $100 Friends of Acadia spent in 2025, $82.83 went to programs. The full breakdown, from its IRS Form 990:
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Questions people ask
How much of Friends of Acadia's spending goes to programs?
In calendar year 2025, Friends of Acadia reported that 82.8% of its $13.6 million in expenses went to program services, 7.9% to management and general and 9.3% to fundraising (Form 990, Part IX).
How much does Friends of Acadia pay its top executive?
The largest total compensation Friends of Acadia reported for one person in calendar year 2025 was $329,449, for the role of President & CEO (Form 990, Part VII, including compensation from related organizations and other compensation).
Where does Friends of Acadia get its money?
Of $12.7 million in revenue in calendar year 2025, 52.4% came from contributions and grants and 0.0% from program service revenue (Form 990, Part VIII).
Is Friends of Acadia a registered charity?
The IRS lists EIN 01-0425071 as a 501(c)(3) organization (publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(a)(vi))), and its records show contributions as tax-deductible. Form 990 filings on record here cover tax years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025. A filing shows what the organization reported; it doesn't by itself show whether a program works.
Sources
- 2025: Form 990 for calendar year 2025, object 202641899349300434 · read the filing · XML
- 2024: Form 990 for calendar year 2024, object 202511759349300636 · read the filing
- 2023: Form 990 for calendar year 2023, object 202411979349300416 · read the filing
- 2022: Form 990 for calendar year 2022, object 202321659349300422 · read the filing
- 2021: Form 990 for calendar year 2021, object 202221579349301567 · read the filing
- 2020: Form 990 for calendar year 2020, object 202141349349301334 · read the filing
- 2019: Form 990 for calendar year 2019, object 202031359349301708 · read the filing
All filings for EIN 01-0425071: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer · IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. Figures are as the organization reported them; we have not audited them.