Debris Free Global Inc D/b/a Debris Free Oceans
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 464581532
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2018
- Location
- Miami, FL, USA
- Phone
- 3053018092
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Natural Resources Conservation and Protection
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $208,908
- Expenses
- $186,576
- Assets
- $246,654
- Liabilities
- $22,873
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CAITLIN WAKS (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- CAITLIN WAKS (PRESIDENT): $64,913 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Debris free oceans is a miami-based organization that empowers local communities to go zero-waste.
What it reported doing in 2025
Education - since inception, we have provided educational lessons about plastic pollution and how to be part of the solution to 15,000 in-person individuals; mentored 16 college-level future ocean conservation leaders in plastic pollution knowledge, presentation skills, cleanup and event organization, and advocacy; and mentored approximately 100 high-school level future ocean conservation leaders to speak with 54 businesses about reducing their plastic waste and saving money ultimately eliminating 28,000 single-use plastic items from the waste stream. In total, debris free oceans has helped entities in miami eliminate over 2 million, and counting, plastic items from the waste stream.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 61
- Sustainability: 45
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 63.9%; rating input score 64
- Program expense ratio: 71.6%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: $24.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 60; 60th 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: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 10.7%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.32; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 34.8%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -45.2% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 18.8% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 63.9% of revenue deployed · 71.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $134K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 58/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.