Monarch Watch

What Monarch Watch does

Monarch Watch is a nonprofit education, conservation, and research program founded in 1992 by Dr. Orley "Chip" Taylor and based at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. It operates as an outreach program of the KU Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research and the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, with a small core staff of 1-10 employees. The program runs the longest-running monarch butterfly tagging and mark-and-recapture initiative in North America, alongside the Bring Back the Monarchs conservation campaign, which has distributed over one million free milkweed plugs to schools and restoration projects since 2015 via partner nurseries. Supporting programs include the Monarch Waystation registration program, the Monarch Calendar Project for phenology tracking, the Dplex-L email discussion list for community engagement, the Kids Zone educational site, and a Monarch Watch mobile app (iOS/Android) launched in August 2022 for community science data submission.

The organization's technology stack centers on a custom mobile app for iOS and Android that supports tag image capture with automatic code import, GPS location capture, and offline data submission, plus e-commerce storefronts for the Monarch Watch Shop (tags, rearing kits, educational materials) and the Milkweed Market (regionally appropriate milkweed plugs). Monarch Watch maintains an extensive scientific bibliography of nearly 1,000 references and reaches more than 100,000 people annually through tagging, events, and digital channels including a blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

Monarch Watch is funded through a hybrid nonprofit model combining tax-deductible donations processed via the KU Endowment Association (100% pass-through with no overhead deduction), institutional grants from Bayer and NRDC, free milkweed distribution programs (freemium model — free plants plus paid shipping of $50-$90 per shipment for restoration projects), and direct-to-consumer e-commerce sales. Key customer segments are individual conservationists and citizen scientists, K-12 schools and educational non-profits, large-scale habitat restoration projects, and partner conservation organizations. In November 2023, Dr. Kristen A. Baum succeeded Chip Taylor as Director, with continuity supported by the $1.4M Chip and Toni Taylor Professorship in Support of Monarch Watch.

Name

Monarch Watch

Legal name

Monarch Watch

Website

https://monarchwatch.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Monarch Watch is a University of Kansas-based nonprofit founded in 1992 that runs North America's longest-running monarch butterfly tagging program, distributes free milkweeds for habitat restoration, and operates community science, education, and e-commerce programs serving citizens, schools, and conservation partners across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wildlife Conservation Education

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Wildlife Conservation & Species Protection (BPAGAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Conservation & Human–Wildlife Conflict Mitigation (BPAGAIAI), Wildlife, Biodiversity & Habitat Conservation Administration (BPAIAMAG)

Keywords

• Monarch conservation programs
• Milkweed habitat restoration
• Citizen science tagging
• Butterfly waystation certification
• Environmental education outreach

Headquarters

HQ city

Lawrence

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: Tax-deductible donations managed through KU Endowment Association. The organization relies on contributions from supporters to fund programs. Donors can make one-time or recurring gifts (monthly or annually).
2. Shop Sales: Revenue from sale of monarch tags, monarch rearing kits, t-shirts, posters, books, and other educational merchandise through the Monarch Watch Shop.
3. Milkweed Market Sales: Sale of milkweed plugs for gardens and restoration projects through the Milkweed Market.
4. Endowed Professorship Funding: The Chip and Toni Taylor Professorship in Support of Monarch Watch was established with a $1.4M gift to support the directorship position.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Monarch Watch is a nonprofit education, conservation, and research program that operates a large-scale monarch butterfly tagging study, registers Monarch Waystation habitat gardens, distributes milkweed plugs through schools and restoration projects, and runs community science initiatives via a mobile app and the Dplex-L email discussion list. It sells tagging supplies, rearing kits, books, and educational merchandise through the Monarch Watch Shop, and milkweed plants through the Milkweed Market.

Product overview

Monarch Watch is an education, conservation, and research nonprofit program based at the University of Kansas, founded in 1992 by Dr. Orley 'Chip' Taylor. Its offerings span a mobile app (iOS/Android) for community science data collection, the Monarch Tagging Program for mark-and-recapture research, the Monarch Calendar Project for phenology tracking, the Monarch Waystation registration program for habitat creation, the Bring Back The Monarchs conservation campaign (encompassing free milkweed distribution for schools and restoration projects), the Milkweed Market and Monarch Watch Shop for purchasing milkweed plants and merchandise, the Monarch Watch Kids Zone for child-focused education, a blog for population and migration news, and the Dplex-L email discussion list for community engagement. The portfolio is organized as a set of interconnected conservation and education programs supported by a mobile app and two commercial marketplaces, rather than a single unified software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Monarch Watch Mobile App A free mobile application for iOS and Android that enables the public to participate in Monarch Watch community science projects, submit monarch tagging data, report tag recoveries, and contribute calendar observations directly from the field with GPS and image capture capabilities.
• Monarch Tagging Program A large-scale mark-and-recapture research program in which volunteers purchase monarch tags and tag monarch butterflies during the fall migration to track their movement and contribute to migration biology research.
• Monarch Waystation Program A program that encourages individuals and organizations to create and register Monarch Waystations (monarch habitat gardens), providing guidelines, resources, and official registration for participants.
• Milkweed Market An online storefront operated by Monarch Watch for purchasing flats of milkweed plugs for butterfly gardens and habitat restoration projects, offering regionally appropriate native milkweed species.
• Monarch Watch Shop An online shop selling monarch tagging materials, rearing kits, books, posters, t-shirts, and related educational merchandise to support Monarch Watch programs.
• Bring Back The Monarchs Campaign A conservation campaign focused on restoring milkweed habitat for monarch butterflies across North America, incorporating seed collection, free milkweed distribution for schools and restoration projects, and the Milkweed Market for purchasing regionally appropriate milkweed plugs.
• Free Milkweeds for Schools & Non-Profits Program Application-based program that distributes a free flat of 32 milkweed plugs (including shipping) to qualifying schools and educational non-profits for creating educational monarch habitat gardens, subject to educational goals, maintenance plan, space, and administrative support requirements.
• Free Milkweeds for Restoration Projects Program Free milkweed plug distribution for large-scale habitat restoration projects (minimum 2 acres east of Rockies, 1/4 acre in California); recipients pay shipping and handling costs ($50-$90 for minimum 4 flats via UPS Ground).
• Monarch Calendar Project A community science project inviting participants to record and submit monarch observation dates throughout the year to track population and migration phenology.
• Monarch Watch Kids Zone A dedicated kids-friendly website featuring interactive educational content about monarch life cycles, migration, milkweed plants, anatomy, predators, experiments, and origami butterfly activities.
• Junior Scientist Activity Books Downloadable and printable activity booklets for children covering monarch butterfly science and exploration activities, available in spring and fall editions.
• Dplex-L Email Discussion List An electronic mailing list and discussion group for Monarch Watch subscribers to share migration reports, tag recovery information, conservation tips, classroom activities, and news of meetings and conservation efforts along migratory routes.

Named customers2 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

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Partner NurseriescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegional nurseries contracted to propagate and grow milkweed plugs for Monarch Watch's free milkweed distribution programs for schools and restoration projects.
• Pollinator PartnershipminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative relationship for sharing planting guides and ecoregional resources developed in partnership with National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, C.S. Fund, Plant Conservation Alliance, U.S. Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management.
• Xerces SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for pollinator conservation resources. Xerces Society provides pollinator conservation information and milkweed seed finder tools that complement Monarch Watch programs.
• University of KansascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMonarch Watch is an educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas. The program operates through the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research and the Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• National Wildlife Federation: National Wildlife Federation is a large, established wildlife conservation nonprofit with broad pollinator and habitat programs (e.g., Certified Wildlife Habitat). It is a broad incumbent because it touches the same gardener/educator audience as Monarch Watch but operates at a national scale across many species, not just monarchs.
• The Nature Conservancy: The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization with active pollinator and milkweed habitat programs. It is a broad incumbent that competes for the same corporate and foundation grants as Monarch Watch but at a much larger scale and across many conservation priorities.

Direct peers

• Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation: Xerces Society is a leading invertebrate conservation nonprofit with substantial pollinator and milkweed habitat programs. It is a direct peer because both organizations deliver pollinator habitat resources, partner nurseries, and educational content targeting overlapping audiences (gardeners, restoration practitioners, schools).
• Journey North: Journey North is a citizen-science program that tracks monarch migration and seasonal phenology across North America. It is the closest direct peer to Monarch Watch because both rely on volunteer-submitted tagging/sighting data and publish migration maps and seasonal updates for monarch researchers and educators.
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center promotes native plants and sustainable landscapes, including pollinator-friendly gardens and milkweed recommendations. It is a direct peer in the native-plant and pollinator-habitat education niche that drives much of Monarch Watch's demand.
• Southwest Monarch Study: Southwest Monarch Study is a research and monitoring program focused on monarch populations in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico. It is a direct peer because it conducts monarch tagging, migration research, and conservation outreach in a subregion of Monarch Watch's geographic footprint.
• Pollinator Partnership: Pollinator Partnership is a nonprofit that coordinates pollinator conservation across North America, including ecoregional planting guides. It is comparable to Monarch Watch because both produce regional habitat guidance, partner with conservation funders, and engage the public in pollinator gardening — and are listed as Monarch Watch partners.
• Monarch Joint Venture: Monarch Joint Venture is a national partnership of organizations focused on monarch conservation, including habitat restoration and research. It directly overlaps with Monarch Watch's Bring Back The Monarchs habitat work and convenes many of the same federal, NGO, and academic partners.

Others

• Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research: Kansas Biological Survey is Monarch Watch's parent administrative unit at the University of Kansas. It is comparable as the academic home that provides scientific infrastructure and credibility but is not a competing conservation program.

Regional players

• Butterflies and Their People (Cuale Reserve / CEMCA): Mexico-based monarch conservation programs (e.g., CEMCA, WWF-Telmex Telcel alliance) work on the overwintering forest end of the monarch migration. They are regional peers because they target a different geography of the same migration phenomenon Monarch Watch studies from the U.S./Canada breeding range.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/monarchwatch
• YouTubeyoutube.com/monarchwatch
• Facebookfacebook.com/monarchwatch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/monarchwatch
• Instagraminstagram.com/monarch_watch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Watch