Aquarium of the Pacific

Legal name: Aquarium of the Pacific Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
330532354
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Long Beach, CA, US
Phone
(562) 590-3100
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Zoo, Zoological Society

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$59,309,760
Expenses
$53,815,475
Assets
$100,041,655
Liabilities
$13,572,620

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

Leadership & pay

40 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR PETER KAREIVA (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR PETER KAREIVA (PRESIDENT & CEO): $519,664 total reported compensation
  • TROY GRANDE (COO/CFO (UNTIL 5/2024)): $385,111 total reported compensation
  • JOHN ROUSE (CHIEF OF AQUARIUM OPERATIONS): $340,614 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 instill a sense of wonder, respect, and stewardship for the Pacific Ocean, its inhabitants, and ecosystems.

What it reported doing in 2024

The aquarium's conservation work extends across the institution including the husbandry teams, veterinary services, education department and volunteer services. In 2024 the aquarium continued its mountain yellow-legged frog, white abalone, and sea otter surrogacy programs by releasing individuals to their native habitats. The sunflower sea star program expanded with a formal partnership across the state. Aquarium staff responded to emergency events including rehabilitating and releasing three injured sea turtles.see schedule o for continuation the education department of the aquarium of the pacific strives to ignite interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (stem) by providing opportunities for people of all ages, interests, and backgrounds to wonder, explore, discover, and learn. We do this through programs onsite, online, and in the community. In 2024, the department reached approximately 159,000 people.- 76% were with onsite programs including school programs, whale watches, and public programs- 21% were with engagements offsite in the community such aquarium on wheels, tabling at festivals, and community science programs- 3% were through our virtual programming including paid virtual field trips and free weekly aquarium online academy

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 85% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.3%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 85.6%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.4%; rating input score 96; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.3%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.86; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.4%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 80.3% of revenue deployed · 85.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 28 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $46.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $520K · 40 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.6M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.