North Carolina Marine and Estuary Foundation Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 830893015
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2019
- Location
- Raleigh, NC, USA
- Phone
- 9194247262
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $825,532
- Expenses
- $807,157
- Assets
- $1,332,255
- Liabilities
- $25,000
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CHARLES F FULLER (PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR)
People named in this filing
- ALLEN E GANT JR (BOARD CHAIR, DIRECTOR)
- CHARLES F FULLER (PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR)
- R DOYLE PARRISH (SECREATRY, TREASURER)
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
Our mission is to restore and enhance the sounds, estuaries, fisheries and fish habitats of North Carolina through research, stewardship, education, and advocacy.
What it reported doing in 2025
The North Carolina marine and estuary foundation supports a natural resource that provides world-class fisheries where all public-trust users can prosper and eastern North Carolina's economies thrive. Such objectives are accomplished by (1.) sponsoring and contributing to a marine, estuarine, and coastal resource research and publications to fill data gaps, (2.) educating the general public with streamlined, online and offline, study findings relating to the management, health, and use of marine, estuarine, and coastal resources, (3.) communicating coastal resource research and publications findings with federal and state agencies, conservation and environmental organizations, and recreational and commercial fishing organizations to uncover and resolve complex fisheries issues.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 91% 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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 61
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 50
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 66.9%; rating input score 67
- Program expense ratio: 66.8%; rating input score 67
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.11 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- 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: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.2%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.65; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 17.7% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 28.3% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 66.9% of revenue deployed · 66.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $539K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.