Rising Seas Institute Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 912164203
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2018
- Location
- Boca Raton, FL, USA
- Phone
- 9546845859
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Community Improvement, Capacity Building N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $235,760
- Expenses
- $314,360
- Assets
- $0
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
People named in this filing
- Robert W Corell (Director)
- John Englander (Director)
- J Mark Grosvenor (Director)
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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To provide intellectual and practical leadership for the challenge of adapting to rising sea levels and serve as a resource and global reference center for the public, diverse professions, government agencies, academia, and communities.
What it reported doing in 2024
Public Lectures and media interviews - The Founders of the Rising Seas Institute, John Englander and Robert W. Corell, have given more than a hundred presentations and interviews over the last decade explaining the science of rising sea level and the need to plan better for adaptation. The New York Times published a major article about climate change by Bret Stephens on October 30th, 2022, and credited the work of the Rising Seas Institute. Other media interviews have included The Discovery Channel, NPR, Fox Business Channel, and China TV, as examples. One particular lecture in London at the prestigious Royal Institution in February 2019, "Sea level rise can no longer be stopped; what next?" has been watched on YouTube by well over three hundred and sixty thousand people globally.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 70% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 78
- Sustainability: 13
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 90.2%; rating input score 90
- Program expense ratio: 67.7%; rating input score 68
- Fundraising efficiency: $52.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th 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: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -33.3%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -7.1% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 20.5% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -3.1% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 90.2% of revenue deployed · 67.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $213K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.