Force Blue Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
352736193
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Mount Pleasant, SC, USA
Phone
9148417230
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,706,288
Expenses
$1,373,331
Assets
$1,827,479
Liabilities
$62,008

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

People named in this filing

  • James Ritterhoff (Director)
  • Dan Orr (Chairman)
  • Tim Gaulluedet (Vice Chair)

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

To unite the community of Special Operations veterans with the world of marine conservation for the betterment of both.

What it reported doing in 2025

Many of the seeds sown in 2024 took root in 2025, making FORCE BLUEs ninth year of operation, by far, one of its most successful. Utilizing funds raised through Publix 2024 register campaign, the organization deployed its veterans on seven (7) separate marine conservation missions across the state of Florida, performing everything from living shoreline installations and marine debris removal ops to invasive species eradication and a coral nursery build. With a grant secured through the Seedling Foundation, FORCE BLUE onboarded and trained seven (7) new FORCE BLUE veterans, bringing the organizations total to 60. FORCE BLUE conducted its fifth Ocean Conservation school (OCS) at Loggerhead MarineLife Center and, with a sizeable donation received from FORCE BLUE New York, was able to complete two (2) more Tour of Duty stops, sending teams to Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Sanctuary in Hawaii and Flower Garden Banks in Texas. Building on the success of its documentary film FROG FATHERS: Lessons from the Normandy Surf, FORCE BLUE again partnered with World of Warships in the production of FROG FATHERS 2: Last Battle of the Pacific, which brought a team of FORCE BLUE veterans to the island of Okinawa, where they repaired a section of coral reef blown up by their UDT frog fathers in 1945. FORCE BLUE secured grants (for use in 2026) from Boeing and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, expanded its existing partnership with Luminox and added new ones with Vineyard Vines and the National Hockey League.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.9%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 80.5%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th 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: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 19.5%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.33; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 72.7% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 32.3% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 50.1% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.9% of revenue deployed · 80.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.