Foundation for Marine Ecology & Telemetry Research

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
811023070
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Seabeck, WA, USA
Phone
2069314638
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Marine Science and Oceanography

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,954,597
Expenses
$1,845,575
Assets
$902,219
Liabilities
$413,963

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • GREGORY S SCHORR (DirectorPresidentBiologist): $163,926 total reported compensation
  • ERIN A FALCONE (TREASURERBIOLOGIST): $113,994 total reported compensation
  • BRENDA K RONE (BIOLOGIST): $111,608 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Support the conservation of marine species and populations by developing, improving and using technologies to conduct scientific research into their biology, behavior and physiology to improve public knowledge of marine species and human affects on them.

What it reported doing in 2025

PROGRAM: ONR POPULATION STUDY - Cuviers Beaked Whales at Guadalupe Island, Mexico: A Comprehensive Assessment of Demographics and Behavior in an Undisturbed Area

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 83
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.9%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 86.8%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 71.4%; rating input score 71; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.6%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.49; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.7%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.9% of revenue deployed · 86.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $164K · 10 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $366K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.