Ocean Wise Conservation Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
980050185
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia, CA
Phone
2368386480
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,870,264
Expenses
$12,023,621
Assets
$32,996,095
Liabilities
$3,339,709

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Mr Lars Gustafsson (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mr Lars Gustafsson (President & CEO): $308,245 total reported compensation
  • Ms Jennie Moushos (COO): $251,051 total reported compensation
  • Dr Carlos Drews (EVP, Conservation): $219,287 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Ocean Wise Conservation Association endeavours to effect the conservation of aquatic life and habitats in British Columbia, around the Pacific Rim, and worldwide by exposing the maximum number of people possible to information about the aquatic world, by playing a major role in public education, by conducting scientific research, by developing and operating conservation programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

Conservation & Research - Ocean Wise Seafood continues to drive responsible consumer choices in North America. The program, established to help businesses and customers identify and purchase sustainable seafood, has over 700 partner organizations around the world. Other activities include our shoreline cleanup program where over 17,000 kg of litter was picked up, led by over 25,000 participants performing 1,068 cleanups across Canada and the USA. Ocean Wise has a number of ongoing research programs with both onsite & field components. This involves research on cetaceans (including killer whales and humpback whales), ocean pollution and microplastics. Our citizen science research collects and analyzes valuable data on plastic pollution as well as cetacean sightings and we are advancing to restore kelp forests at scale in partnership with Indigenous peoples in British Columbia and in Chile.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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 - 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.7%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 65.3%; rating input score 65
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -10.6%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.74; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.5%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -29.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -11.6% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -13.6% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.7% of revenue deployed · 65.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 32 of 32 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $7.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $308K · 28 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.4M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.