American Friends of the Ocean Cleanup Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
815132355
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
3322368004
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,513,955
Expenses
$17,732,162
Assets
$20,206,628
Liabilities
$16,622,930

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BOYAN DAMIR SLAT (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BOYAN DAMIR SLAT (PRESIDENT): $185,750 total reported compensation
  • JOY GAO (TREASURER): $111,297 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To preserve and protect the natural ocean environment for the benefit of the public including (i) promoting, developing and performing the environmentally friendly, large-scale and efficient extraction and removal of waste from oceans, seas and other waste areas, and (ii) promoting, developing and performing the environmentally friendly recycling of such waste.

What it reported doing in 2024

American friends of the ocean cleanup, foundation ("the foundation") is responsible for soliciting donations in the u.s, primarily to support clean up initiatives in oceans, rivers, and other bodies of water around the world. These donations are reviewed by an independent board, and certain grants are approved to be made to the related dutch organization, stichting the ocean cleanup ("stichting"), to be used in support of their mission, which is aligned with the foundation's mission of protecting the oceans, throughout the world. The foundation has full control and discretion over the donated funds it receives and maintains proper internal controls and processes for the approval of grants to stichting.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 99% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 98
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 58
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 97.6%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: $107.79 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Pass
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -41.7%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.14; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.82; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 36.9% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 28% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 32.1% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 97.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $17.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $186K · 5 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $155K reported
  • Consistency: 19 of 21 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D expense reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D revenue reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.