Sea Turtle Oversight Protection Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
900609123
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
Phone
9544040025
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Wildlife Preservation, Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$48,023
Expenses
$50,036
Assets
$55,974
Liabilities
$220

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Melissa Alexander (Vice President)
  • Tonia Fralin (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Melissa Alexander (Vice President): $908 total reported compensation
  • Heather Spangler (Treasurer): $480 total reported compensation
  • Tonia Fralin (President): $120 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The purpose of Sea Turtle Oversight Protection, Inc., a Florida non-profit corporation, is to educate the public about marine turtle conservation efforts and the benefits of restoring the population of this endangered species. This includes compiling data about nest locations mapping the locations and documenting disorientation events and educating the public at large.

What it reported doing in 2025

A.Our current Programs consist of sea turtle hatchling rescue and disorientation documentation March 1 to October 31. In Fort Lauderdale, FL, sea turtle nesting season runs from March 1 to October 31. During this time, our volunteers are involved in permit-related conservation, preservation, and documentation activities. This includes compiling data about nest locations, mapping locations, documenting disorientation events, and educating the public about sea turtle conservation. Our field volunteers use this data for their rescue and recovery efforts. Our administrative volunteers and local, state, and federal governmental agencies use this data as a tool for enforcing better protection thresholds to reduce sea turtle hatchling mortality due to artificial light pollution. For our field volunteers, this information enables them to be there when hatchlings emerge from the nest. During the off season, volunteers attend educational events and conduct other activities to educate the public about sea turtle conservation issues.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 87% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.8%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 62.1%; rating input score 62
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.2%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.12; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -29.2% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -12.8% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.8% of revenue deployed · 62.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $31K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $908 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.