The Friends of Governors Island is the private nonprofit organization that manages the island's operations and programming. It was founded as the Governors Island Alliance in 1995, following the Coast Guard's decision to vacate the island. The Alliance and its 50 member organizations led a campaign to return the island to New York for public purposes. Since 2014 the Alliance has been an independent non-profit, and in 2016 it was renamed Friends of Governors Island. The Friends run volunteer and membership programs, raise money and perform advocacy for the island.