Waterfront Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461543808
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Torrance, CA, USA
Rating
62
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Safety Education

Reported finances

Revenue
$275,021
Expenses
$259,696
Assets
$52,842
Liabilities
$5,766

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JULIE COLL (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHENTAI REID (PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $34,431 total reported compensation
  • CHRISTIAN SHARIFJOO (OPERATIONS DIRECTOR): $27,578 total reported compensation
  • LEA DELORENZIS (FINANCE DIRECTOR): $18,513 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Educational experiences focused on the marine environment and conservation. Our programs and events utilize our local ocean waters as a natural learning platform.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 96% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 70
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 14
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.9%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 81.4%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.6%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 36.2%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 55.4% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 61.6% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.9% of revenue deployed · 81.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 11 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $211K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $34K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

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

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.