Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
453573540
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Hollywood, FL, USA
Phone
4074934866
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Marine Science and Oceanography

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$686,535
Expenses
$869,196
Assets
$1,860,568
Liabilities
$6,095

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR MATTHEW SMUKALL (PRESIDENT, CEO, DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR MATTHEW SMUKALL (PRESIDENT, CEO, DIRECTOR): $103,375 total reported compensation
  • RALPH DEAN GRUBBS (DIRECTOR): $8,787 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To advance knowledge of marine animals, especially the heavily impacted sharks and rays; to educate future scientists at the undergraduate and graduate levels; to disseminate our research results to advance the field of marine science; and to promote marine conservation through improved public awareness.

What it reported doing in 2025

This year the organization worked tirelessly on the core missions of education, research, and conservation for marine species. The field station hosted approximately 120 students from 10 institutions for weeklong marine science field courses. Additional weeklong programs included the early career workshop which supported scholarships for 13 marine scientists, and educator workshops which supported scholarships for 28 teachers. The research efforts produced valuable scientific outputs. This past year our team contributed to 6 scientific manuscripts that are in stages of review or publication, and 5 scientific presentations. Our data are supporting 10 student led research projects and several other large-scale collaborations. Our conservation efforts engaged with the public to improve overall education regarding marine conservation. We interacted with more than 2,500 people at public events, had 700 guests at the field station, and presented to 2,900 people through digital platforms.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 93
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 85.7%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $75.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -26.6%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.14; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.9%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 85.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $745K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $103K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.