Oregon Coast Aquarium Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
930877807
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Newport, OR, USA
Phone
5418673474
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Zoo, Zoological Society

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,336,343
Expenses
$13,624,355
Assets
$60,650,748
Liabilities
$5,975,956

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CARRIE LEWIS (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CARRIE LEWIS (PRESIDENT & CEO): $258,684 total reported compensation
  • JIM BURKE (DIRECTOR OF ANIMAL CARE): $117,792 total reported compensation
  • GREG HOARD (DIR. OF FINANCE): $96,882 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The aquarium's mission is to maintain the highest quality aquatic and marine science programs for recreation and education so that the public better understands, cherishes, and conserves the world's natural marine and coastal resources.

What it reported doing in 2024

Mission engagement: the aquarium offers onsite, online and outreach education programs, including classroom programs, virtual field trips and career explorations. Additionally, we are now engaging scout groups and college clubs in field based community science projects. The aquarium partners with lincoln county school district (lcsd) on an ocean literacy initiative - creating field experiences aligned with lcsd's newly adopted science curriculum. The aquarium has a youth volunteer program includes summer interpreters and a newly developed marine science club in conjunction with local schools. The aquarium, in collaboration with lcsd, created a bilingual program for high school students that serves our growing latino community. Continued on schedule o. On-site, the aquarium facilitates behind-the-scenes tours and school field trips as well as a variety of added-value programs such as narrated pelican presentations. The aquarium's educators use animal ambassadors, such as our barn owl or western pond turtle, to reach visitors about coastal wildlife, and instill empathy toward misunderstood species. With our newly remodeled changing exhibition space, the aquarium is again offering rotating exhibitions.

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 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.2%; rating input score 56
  • Program expense ratio: 76.4%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 25.7%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.45; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.1%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.2% of revenue deployed · 76.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $10.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $259K · 16 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $9.8M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 48/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.