Billion Oyster Project Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272918478
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2124580800
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,860,365
Expenses
$8,891,743
Assets
$9,406,292
Liabilities
$453,507

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PETER MALINOWSKI (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • PETER MALINOWSKI (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $241,464 total reported compensation
  • BRIAN REAGOR (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOP. & COMM.): $173,027 total reported compensation
  • KATHLEEN MOSHER-SMITH (SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS): $149,965 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Billion oyster project's ("bop") mission is to restore oyster reefs to New York harbor through public education initiatives.

What it reported doing in 2024

Billion oyster project builds a community of schools and teachers who use and contribute to bop's field-based curriculum to enrich students' educational experience. Education program services include (i) publishing free, field-based curricula written for public school teachers through the lens of oyster restoration; (ii) providing opportunities for teachers and students to work and learn alongside bop staff; (iii) supporting New York harbor school as a model of providing bipoc and/or low-income students with a pathway to post- secondary and life-long career opportunities, and promoting the growth of a network of harbor schools; and (iv) offering professional development opportunities for teachers, particularly in disadvantaged schools.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.2%; rating input score 54
  • Program expense ratio: 78.5%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 69.1%; rating input score 69; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 30.9%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.06; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.4%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.4% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.2% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.2% of revenue deployed · 78.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $241K · 26 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $930K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.