City Island Oyster Reef Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
843304186
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Bronx, NY, USA
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Quality, Protection, and Beautification N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$208,109
Expenses
$213,962
Assets
$171,478
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

People named in this filing

  • MARIA CARUSO (BOARD MEMBER)
  • HAILEY CLANCY PHD (BOARD MEMBER)
  • ANN HENDERSON PHD (BOARD MEMBER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule o.

What it reported doing in 2025

OYSTER REEF CIOR has been funded to select two sites for oyster reefs from five potential locations around the island that were identified by an extensive survey of existing oyster populations around City Island. CIOR monitored the five sites and the data on oyster growth and mortality from those sessions was used to inform the selection of the two sites. The plans and designs for the oyster reefs at those sites are now being presented for sign-off and permitting. Now that the two sites have been selected, specially engineered structures will be put in place, and cured shell material will be added in order to promote reef formation. In addition, CIOR has partnered with local City Island restaurants to collect their discarded shells in 32-gallon bins and bring them to a curing site at the Pelham Bay Landfill. The shells are placed on the grass-covered soil on top of one another to a height of two feet and regularly turned to provide sufficient airflow. No chemicals are used in the curing process, which takes up to twelve months.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 62% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.1%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 70.1%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -2.8%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.8; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -17.7% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 25.5% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 36.1% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.1% of revenue deployed · 70.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $150K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.