Marine Debris Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 884011690
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2023
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2026771338
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $299,905
- Expenses
- $286,012
- Assets
- $119,750
- Liabilities
- $6,048
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Clare Romanik (Executive Dir.): $97,840 total reported compensation
- Susan Sherman (Executive Dir.): $76,412 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to achieve plastic-free waters by advancing innovative solutions, investing in new technologies, and supporting community-driven initiatives.
What it reported doing in 2025
We strive to achieve plastic-free waters by advancing innovative solutions, investing in new technologies, and supporting community-driven initiatives. Through the Genius Prize national competitive award, we spark innovation for transformative solutions. We work to educate the next generation and fund high-impact solutions to prevent and remove marine debris that threatens fisheries and coastal communities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 66% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 52
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 56%; rating input score 56
- Program expense ratio: 58.7%; rating input score 59
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 4.6%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.42; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 60.9%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 46% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 18.2% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 56% of revenue deployed · 58.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $168K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $98K · 13 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- 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: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 59/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.