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Friends of Acadia

EIN 01-0425071 · Bar Harbor, ME

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthGood72 out of 100GovernanceStrong100 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

Friends of Acadia preserves, protects, and promotes stewardship of the outstanding natural beauty, ecological vitality, and distinctive cultural resources of Acadia National Park and surrounding communities for the inspiration and enjoyment of current and future generations.

Income
$12.7 million
Spending
$13.6 million
Spent on programs
83%
Reserves
11.4 months of spending
Largest source of income
donations and private grants, 52%
Employees
40
Volunteers
746
Highest pay
$329,449, president & ceo

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Financial health

Good: 72 out of 100. Higher than 43% of charities in its peer group (environment, $10m to $100m).

  • Reserves

    28 of 35

    Spendable reserves would cover 11.4 months of spending.

  • Debt

    20 of 20

    It owes 0% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    4 of 15

    Spending exceeded income by 7% of income.

  • Income trend

    5 of 15

    Income fell 12% on the year before.

  • Spending floor

    15 of 15

    83% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 19 cents.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Governance

Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 35% of charities in its peer group (environment, $10m to $100m).

  • Independent board

    25 of 25

    24 of 24 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    8 of 8

    Has a written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    7 of 7

    Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    10 of 10

    Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • Pay set independently

    5 of 5

    Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.

  • Independent check of accounts

    15 of 15

    Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.

  • No reported misuse

    10 of 10

    Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Impact evidence

Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.

Programs described in its return (3)
  1. $565,009 spent. Friends 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 of the Great Meadow Loop.
  2. $114,172 spent. 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.
  3. $10.6 million spent. 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 typically contributes over 5,000 hours of time per year to help maintain Acadia's trails and carriage roads. FOA continues to help ANP address the ongoing seasonal employee housing shortage. In 2025, construction continued at Harden Farm, an ANP project that FOA contributed an additional $4.5 million to help complete, adding to the $7M contributed during 2024. Phase One, 28 new one bedroom and studio apartments, was completed, and Phase Two, another 28 one bedroom and studio apartments, was initiated. Solar panels were installed at FOA's seasonal housing complex in Trenton, Maine with a potential energy savings of nearly $600,000 over 25 years. FOA also secured funding to install solar panels at Harden Farm with a potential energy savings of $300,000 during its lifetime. 2025 welcomed inaugural residents at the newly completed Dane Farm complex in Seal Harbor, Maine, housing eight seasonal employees for ANP.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Legitimacy checks

  1. Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.

    Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  2. Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.

    Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.

    Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.

  3. Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.

    On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

    Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.

  4. Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.

    Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since January 1988.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  6. Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.

    Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.

    Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.

Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.