Reef Guardians Hawaii

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
473975420
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Princeville, HI, USA
Phone
8086510286
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Reported finances

Revenue
$200,868
Expenses
$138,079
Assets
$189,654
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • THOMAS WOODS (President)
  • HARRY RABIN (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • ROBIN MAZOR (Exec Direct/Sec): $71,417 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Reef Guardians' mission is reef preservation through research, restoration, and education.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education - reef guardians educates the community and builds awareness about coral reef threats and the importance of protecting the reef, wetlands and nearshore environments. Reef camp, reef guardians unique youth environmental education program, operates school field study and school break programs. Serving over 300 children ages 8-13 in 2024, the weekly camps provided instruction in science, arts, hawaiian cultural knowledge and wisdom, and direct learning experiences in the ocean environment. Reef guardians Hawaii developed and is distributing the "Hawaii sealife" app, a free ios/android tool designed for children and families to raise environmental awareness and promote respectful, protective interactions with hawaiis shorelines and reefs. This animal identification app offers engaging educational content to help users to appreciate and safeguard the natural environment.reef guardians launched an extensive environmental education initiative in 2024 called the "ke kula kai online sea school." this program builds on our reef camp curriculum, covering 15 key topics to deepen understanding of ocean ecology and the hawaiian islands. Each topic combines ocean science, conservation, and hawaiian cultural knowledge to foster environmental awareness and encourage meaningful connections to place, as an extention of our reef camp and Hawaii sealife app.through our community/government partnership with the California dept. Of fish and wildlife, reef guardians provided and installed educational signage at harbors and beaches, protecting sharks in their natural near-shore feeding areas. Reef guardians is replacing and installing new signs where needed. Reef guardians Hawaii published a comprehensive study on land-based pollution impacting kaua'i's ? Anini (wanini) lagoon. This report, along with action steps taken, was made available to the community, government, and non-profit agencies through public events and for download on the reef guardians hawai'i website. Adult educational events were held across kaua'i and in santa barbara by reef guardians, with participation from coral and shark experts, to increase public awareness and promote environmentally protective actions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 84% 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 a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and a relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 31
  • Sustainability: 63
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.1%; rating input score 56
  • Program expense ratio: 81.5%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.35 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 31.3%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.37; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 51.7%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -8.8% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 20.4% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.1% of revenue deployed · 81.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 4 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $113K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $71K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.