Monarch Joint Venture

What Monarch Joint Venture does

Monarch Joint Venture (MJV) is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation organization founded in 2008 and headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. MJV operates as a partnership-based convener, coordinating a network of more than 135 federal and state agencies, NGOs, businesses, and academic programs to conserve the monarch butterfly migration across North America. Its work is organized around four pillars: Habitat (technical assistance, restoration, working-lands conservation), Science (North America-wide monitoring programs, remote sensing, drone-based habitat assessment, research synthesis), Education (Monarch NECTAR Hub online learning platform, monthly webinar series, curriculum, professional development), and Partnership (network coordination, Conservation Pledge accountability framework). MJV also operates the Prairie Oaks campus, a 20-acre education and research facility in Belle Plaine, Minnesota, hosting summer camps, workshops, and private events. Technology assets include continent-wide citizen science monitoring platforms (Integrated Monarch Monitoring Program, Monarch Larva Monitoring Project, Journey North), an online learning platform, and pioneering remote sensing and drone-based habitat monitoring capabilities.

Name

Monarch Joint Venture

Legal name

Monarch Joint Venture

Website

https://monarchjointventure.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Monarch Joint Venture is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit that convenes 135+ federal, state, NGO, corporate, and academic partners to conserve the monarch butterfly migration through habitat, science, education, and partnership programs across North America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wildlife Conservation

NAICS

Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (712190)

akta.pro primary industry

Biodiversity & Habitat Conservation (BPAGAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Conservation & Human–Wildlife Conflict Mitigation (BPAGAIAI)

Keywords

• Monarch butterfly conservation
• Pollinator habitat restoration
• Wildlife conservation partnership
• Citizen science monitoring
• Conservation education programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Saint Paul

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting monarch conservation work. MJV is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization (Federal Tax ID: 83-1343107).
2. Business and Partner Support: Corporate sponsorships and support from business partners engaged in monarch and pollinator conservation
3. Federal and State Grants: Primary funding from U.S. Forest Service International Programs and other federal/state agency grants
4. MJV Store Merchandise: Sales of habitat signs, monarch books, educational materials, t-shirts and other merchandise through the MJV Store and Bonfire Fundraising Store
5. Event Fees: Fees from private events, meetings, and rentals at Prairie Oaks campus facility

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Monarch Joint Venture is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation organization that protects the monarch butterfly migration through four integrated pillars: Habitat (restoration and conservation of pollinator habitat), Science (research, monitoring programs including Integrated Monarch Monitoring Program, and remote sensing innovations), Education (workshops, curricula, webinars, and the Monarch NECTAR Hub online learning platform), and Partnership (coordinating a network of over 135 federal/state agencies, NGOs, businesses, and academic programs). The organization operates the 20-acre Prairie Oaks campus in Belle Plaine, MN and the MJV Store for conservation merchandise.

Product overview

Monarch Joint Venture is a national conservation nonprofit that operates through four integrated core programs: Habitat, Science, Education, and Partnership. The organization implements science-based conservation actions for monarch butterflies and other pollinators. Key products and services include the Monarch NECTAR Hub (online learning platform), MJV Store (merchandise), Prairie Oaks Campus (20-acre education and research facility), Monarch Conservation Webinar Series (monthly educational webinars), and the Monarch Conservation Implementation Framework (planning document). These offerings work together to deliver habitat conservation, education, science, and partnership coordination across North America's monarch range.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Monarch NECTAR Hub: Online learning platform - a network for education on conservation, training, and research where users can take online courses at their own pace.
• Prairie Oaks

Quantifiable outcome

• 2025-26 overwintering population reached 2.93 hectares, representing nearly 64% increase over previous year's area occupied in Mexico
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead agency coordinating a U.S. High Level Working Group for monarchs. Working with MJV and partners to integrate monarch conservation and educational programs into the nation's wildlife refuges.
• Xerces Society for Invertebrate ConservationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorks to conserve western monarch overwintering sites in California through monitoring, analyses, and educational programs; promotes milkweed habitat improvement and monitoring efforts in western and central U.S.
• The Nature ConservancycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal conservation organization dedicated to conserving lands and waters on which all life depends. Protects and restores lands critical to functioning natural systems providing habitat to monarchs and other wildlife.
• Monarch Watch, University of KansascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational outreach program promoting conservation through Monarch Waystation program, tagging program for eastern monarchs, and Milkweed Market increasing availability of native milkweed plugs.
• Journey NorthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCitizen science program tracking monarch migration across North America through public participation and observations.
• Bayer Crop SciencemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMonarch and pollinator work centers on three pillars: increasing pollinator habitats in agricultural communities, driving conservation conversations through diverse partnerships, and reaching new audiences through education and outreach. Founding member of Farmers for Monarchs.
• National Park ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnering with MJV to strengthen awareness and citizen science monitoring of monarchs and their habitat in national parks. Working to restore milkweed and nectar sources on park lands.
• Natural Resources Conservation ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngaged with many MJV partners in extensive efforts to increase milkweed seed availability in priority areas and develop best practices for milkweed propagation.
• Monarch Butterfly FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary work is protecting overwintering sites in Mexico and educating communities there. Coordinates with and supports conservation efforts along monarch migratory pathways in the U.S. through MJV.
• Monarch Larva Monitoring ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCitizen science project coordinated by MJV for volunteers to collect information about monarch larvae population dynamics across North America.
• Environmental Defense FundmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloping a new conservation tool for monarchs, the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange.
• CPKCmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTransportation holding company supporting overwintering areas in Mexico through reforestation efforts and developing a Monarch Depot concept providing habitat islands across the CPKC railway system.
• Bee and Butterfly Habitat FundmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorks to get more monarch and pollinator habitat on the ground by providing landowners with incentives to restore habitat using innovative techniques.
• Farmers for MonarchscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative initiative of the Keystone Policy Center supporting productive agriculture and livestock operations in concert with monarch conservation. MJV founding partner.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation: A nonprofit dedicated to invertebrate conservation (including monarch and pollinator habitat) via monitoring, advocacy, and farmer partnerships. Highly comparable to MJV because it shares the invertebrate/pollinator mission, similar partnership-led model, and is itself an MJV strategic partner.
• Atlantic Flyway Joint Venture / Upper Mississippi River Joint Venture (Migratory Bird Joint Ventures): A network of regional migratory bird Joint Ventures modeled on the same joint-venture framework that inspired MJV's founding. Highly comparable operational model — federal-state-NGO-academic partnerships coordinated for a single migratory species — making them direct structural peers.
• Monarch Watch (University of Kansas): University-based monarch outreach program running Monarch Waystation, tagging, and Milkweed Market programs. Comparable to MJV because of single-species (monarch) focus, science-plus-education delivery, and overlapping citizen science activities, though academic rather than independent nonprofit.
• Pollinator Partnership: The largest 501(c)(3) dedicated exclusively to pollinators, coordinating North American pollinator week, certification programs, and corporate sustainability work. Comparable to MJV in single-focus pollinator mandate, partnership-network GTM, and education/training offerings.
• Journey North: Citizen science program tracking monarch migration across North America via public observations. Comparable to MJV as a long-running community-science platform in the same monarch conservation stack; MJV coordinates and promotes Journey North through its science pillar.

Broad incumbents

• Defenders of Wildlife: National wildlife advocacy nonprofit active in ESA policy and federal land management. Comparable as a peer in the conservation nonprofit space with overlapping federal policy influence and member/donor funding model.
• The Nature Conservancy: Largest global conservation nonprofit with programs that overlap MJV's habitat work. Comparable as an MJV strategic partner and conservation funder, though with vastly broader mandate (lands, water, climate) rather than single-species focus.
• National Wildlife Federation: Large U.S. conservation nonprofit with pollinator and Monarch Garden programs and federal advocacy on monarch ESA. Comparable broad-incumbent peer working in the same monarch/policy and habitat-retail space.
• Audubon Society (National Audubon Society): Long-established bird conservation nonprofit organized around a migratory species with regional chapters, citizen science, and policy advocacy. Comparable broad-incumbent peer along the migratory-species conservation dimension.

Others

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology: University-based citizen-science center running eBird and Birds of North America, organized around a single taxonomic group's conservation. Comparable as the institutional inspiration for MJV's science-and-citizen-science model and joint-venture collaboration logic.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCrCB_1CM3x0_FN3ltrWQlAA
• Facebookfacebook.com/monarchjointventure
• Instagraminstagram.com/monarchjointventure
• Xx.com/MonarchsJV

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Monarch Joint Venture