Carolina Ocean Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
884401940
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Charleston, SC, USA
Phone
8433649818
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$69,079
Expenses
$64,269
Assets
$19,902
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Whittaker Grey Gowder (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Whittaker Grey Gowder (Executive Director): $12,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Carolina Ocean Alliance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that advances community-driven solutions through strategic coalitions of our partners, develops the next generation of leaders, and fosters a culture of environmental stewardship.

What it reported doing in 2025

The Creek Collective is a place-based, community-driven resilience initiative of the Carolina Ocean Alliance that merges nature-based design and tactical urbanism with direct action that community members can take through citizen science, native ecosystem restoration, community adaptation planning, environmental justice, and the creation of community networks built around the shared stewardship of a waterway or flood basin.The M.A.R.S.H. Project is a grassroots and community-based program of the Creek Collective working to create the first urban ecological corridor in the Southeast. We advocate for the marsh, and for reclaiming Charleston's natural heritage through volunteerism and unique programming cleaning up debris, planting native plant species, citizen-science monitoring, art programs, and community and educational outreach.

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 98% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.8%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 86.8%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.76 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 7%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.31; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18.7%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 47.5% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 49.9% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.8% of revenue deployed · 86.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $56K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $12K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.