Cool the Earth
Legal name: Cool the Earth Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 263316908
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2017
- Location
- Kentfield, CA, US
- Phone
- 8004749804
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $376,174
- Expenses
- $399,777
- Assets
- $99,272
- Liabilities
- $2,480
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- CARLEEN CULLEN (EXEC DIR/BOA): $65,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Cool the Earth seeks to educate and engage individuals and organizations in fighting climate change by motivating them to take significant climate actions to reduce their personal carbon footprint. Collectively, these actions will have a meaningful impact on mitigating the climate crisis, which disproportionately affects the health and well-being of black, indigenous and people of color.
What it reported doing in 2024
Provide a climate change school assembly program that educates kindergarten through 8th grade students and their families about climate change and inspires them to take simple actions to reduce their carbon emissions. Through scaled community engagement programs, we inspire people to replace internal combustion vehicles with electric vehicles, e-bikes, and other forms of zero-carbon transportation.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 79% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 78
- Sustainability: 24
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
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: 80%; rating input score 80; 21st 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: -6.3%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.25; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 16.3%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $400K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.