Keeling Curve Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
882035572
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2022
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
8583663376
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$270,167
Expenses
$133,228
Assets
$255,913
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RALPH KEELING (PRESIDENT)
  • CAROLY SHUMWAY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • RALPH KEELING (PRESIDENT)
  • ABBY WEISS (TREASURER)
  • TARA IVANOCHKO (SECRETARY)

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 recognize, inspire, and promote accurate long-term observations of the environment, and to communicate their significance for mitigating and adapting to climate change.

What it reported doing in 2025

Outreach: we added a new section, lto insights, on our website, highlighting pivotal long-term observation (lto) datasets and their significance in monitoring environmental changes. We also added a monthly ltos in the news section on the website. We presented a session, bending the curve, at climate week in nyc, which focused on the importance of long-term observations for guiding climate policies and solutions. We helped support the annual keeling lecture, the topic of which was climate change in the u.s-mexico region. We also engaged two senior advisors, with expertise in communications and outreach.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 39.4%; rating input score 39
  • Program expense ratio: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $47.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 73; 73rd 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: 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: 50.7%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.92; rating input score 58; 58th 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: -29.7% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 48% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 88.2% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 39.4% of revenue deployed · 80% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $107K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 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: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.