Vermilion Sea Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
208381814
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2017
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
6193166645
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$388,248
Expenses
$383,063
Assets
$33,085
Liabilities
$10,324

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • T'Noya Thompson (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Meghann McDonald (Exeutive Director & Treasurer): $31,340 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To support and implement programs that support ecology, culture and education.

What it reported doing in 2024

Our marine debris prevention programs are driven by the leadership and participation of young people and community members. We are committed to improving our community and reducing waste in Baha de Los ngeles through the following projects. 1. We empower young people to take charge and lead efforts to reduce plastic waste and marine debris through public education, beach cleanups, data collection, and community-powered campaigns. These youth collect valuable data following NOAA protocols and contribute to global understanding of marine debris. Further, through hands-on collaboration with visitors, they empower others to do the same. 2.We improve our community and reduce waste through the creation, operation, and continuous development of a specialized community recycling center. Our newly acquired, specialized, machines efficiently process post-consumer plastics, providing a more sustainable solution to plastic waste management. We prioritize community engagement and a circular economy, striving to maximize the impact of our recycling efforts and reduce the amount of waste that ends up in our local desert and oceans.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 76% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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 program spending has grown recently. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 57
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.6%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 93%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.3%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.2%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.6% of revenue deployed · 93% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $356K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $31K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.