Mission: SUSTAINABLE SURF ACTS AS A CATALYST TO HELP TRANSFORM BOTH THE SURF CULTURE AND SURFING INDUSTRY INTO THE ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF THE SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE IN THE MOD ... (More)
Sustainable Surf is a 501(c)(3) organization, with an IRS ruling year of 2012, and donations are tax-deductible.
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Important note on the timeliness of ratings
The IRS is significantly delayed in processing nonprofits' annual tax filings (Forms 990). As a result, the Finance & Accountability score for Sustainable Surf is outdated and the overall rating may not be representative of its current operations. Please check with the charity directly for any questions you may have.
Encompass Rating System by Charity Navigator
Overall Score
82
out of 100
This charity's score is a passing score.
This overall score is calculated from multiple beacon scores: 90% Finance & Accountability and 10% Leadership & Adaptability
Learn about the Encompass Rating System: Overview | FAQ | Release Notes
Finance & Accountability
This score provides an assessment of a nonprofit's financial health (stability, efficiency and sustainability) and its commitment to governance practices and policies.
Finance & Accountability Score
80
out of 100
The score earned by Sustainable Surf is a passing score
This V6 of the Finance & Accountability Score provides a baseline measure of an organization's health including the indicators listed in the report below.
This score represents Form 990 data from 2019, the latest year electronically filed and published by the IRS.
Finance & Accountability Report
80
of 100 points
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Program Expense Ratio
78.12%
Higher effect on score
More data
The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three 990s). This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver.
Program Expense Percentage | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| 70% or higher | Full Credit |
| 60% - 69.9% | Partial Credit |
| 50% - 59.9% | Zero Points for Program Expense Score |
| Below 50% | Zero Points for Both Program Expense AND Liabilities to Assets Scores |
Source: IRS Form 990
Board Composition
7/10 Independent
Higher effect on score
Charity Navigator looks for at least 3 board members, with more than 50% of those members identified as independent (not salaried).
The presence of an independent governing body is strongly recommended by many industry professionals to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters.
Source: IRS Form 990
Independent Audit or Financial Review
No Audit/Review
Higher effect on score
An Audit, Review, or Compilation provides important information about financial accountability and accuracy. Organizations are scored based on their Total Revenue Amount:
Total Revenue Amount | Expectation to Receive Credit |
|---|---|
| $1 million or higher | Expected to complete an audit |
| $500,000 - $1 million | Expected to complete an audit, review, or compilation |
| Less than $500,000 | No expectation (removed from scoring methodology) |
Source: IRS Form 990
Liabilities to Assets Ratio
2.07%
Lower effect on score
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent 990). This ratio is an indicator of an organization’s solvency and/or long-term sustainability.
Liabilities to Assets Ratio | Amount of Credit Received |
|---|---|
| Less than 50% | Full Credit |
| 50% - 59.9% | Partial Credit |
| 60% or more | No Credit |
Source: IRS Form 990
Website
Listed
Lower effect on score
Charity Navigator looks for a website on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency metric.
Nonprofits act in the public trust and reporting publicly on activities is an important component.
Source: IRS Form 990
Conflict of Interest Policy
Listed
Lower effect on score
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a conflict of interest policy on the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy protects the organization and by extension those it serves, when it is considering entering into a transaction that may benefit the private interest of an officer, director and/or key employee of the organization.
Source: IRS Form 990
Board Meeting Minutes
Documented
Lower effect on score
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the Form 990 that the organization has this process in place as an accountability and transparency measure.
An official record of the events that take place during a board meeting ensures that a contemporaneous document exists for future reference.
Source: IRS Form 990
Document Retention and Destruction
Listed
Lower effect on score
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a document retention and destruction policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy establishes guidelines for the handling, backing up, archiving and destruction of documents. These guidelines foster good record keeping procedures that promote data integrity.
Source: IRS Form 990
Whistleblower Policy
Listed
Lower effect on score
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a whistleblower policy per the Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.
This policy outlines procedures for handling employee complaints, as well as a confidential way for employees to report financial or other types of mismanagement.
Source: IRS Form 990
Additional Information
Unscored
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Total Revenue and Expenses
This chart displays the trend of revenue and expenses over the past several years for this organization, as reported on their IRS Form 990.
Salary of Key Persons
Presented here are up to five of this organization's highest compensated employees. This compensation data includes salary, cash bonuses, and expense accounts and is displayed exactly how it is reported to the IRS. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on Form W-2. In some cases, these amounts may include compensation from related organizations. Read the IRS policies for compensation reporting
MICHAEL STEWART, DIRECTOR
$72,000
KEVIN WHILDEN, EXEC DIR/SCRTRY
$72,000
ABIGAIL WHILDEN, DIRECTOR
$0
MARK MAROVICH, DIRECTOR
$0
ADAM WEST, TREASURER
$0
Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2019
Business Master File Data
Below are some key data points from the Exempt Organization IRS Business Master File (BMF) for this organization. Learn more about the BMF on the IRS website
Activities:
Activity data not reported from the IRS
Foundation Status:
Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (BMF foundation code: 15)
Affiliation:
Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). (BMF affiliation code: 3)
Data Sources: IRS Forms 990
The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage finance and accountability data from it to form Encompass ratings. Click here to view this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available).
Pandemic Response
Due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, we give charities such as this one the opportunity to share the story of COVID's impact on them. Charities may submit their own pandemic responses through their nonprofit portal.
Sustainable Surf reported being impacted by COVID-19 in the following ways:
Program Delivery
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's operations financially:
Individual donations declined 85%, however corporate donations increased dramatically in the 2nd half of 2020 on the strength of our new SeaTrees program. Total revenue increased 100% in 2020. We received a PPP loan in the beginning of 2020, which allowed us to keep our staff during the start of the pandemic.
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's delivery of programs:
Two of our programs that required in-person gatherings were unable to operate (Deep Blue Events and Waste to Waves). However our most significant programs (SeaTrees and The Ecoboard Project) were able to continue in a slightly modified format.
How this organization adapted to changing conditions caused by COVID-19:
We already operated in virtual offices before the pandemic, so there was no impact from the lockdowns. Regarding programs, we already had designed two programs to operate virtually, so we focused our efforts on those programs.
Innovations the organization intends to continue permanently after the pandemic:
We already had designed many virtual aspects into our programs, before the pandemic started. So there was not anything "new" that came from pandemic operations.
Previous: Finance & Accountability / Next: Leadership & Adaptability
Impact & Results
This score estimates the actual impact a nonprofit has on the lives of those it serves, and determines whether it is making good use of donor resources to achieve that impact.
Impact & Results Score
Not Currently Scored
Sustainable Surf cannot currently be evaluated by our Encompass Rating Impact & Results methodology because either (A) it is eligible, but we have not yet received data; (B) we have not yet developed an algorithm to estimate its programmatic impact; (C) its programs are not direct services; or (D) it is not heavily reliant on contributions from individual donors.
Note: The absence of a score does not indicate a positive or negative assessment, it only indicates that we have not yet evaluated the organization.
Do you work at Sustainable Surf? Join the waitlist for an updated Impact & Results score.
Additional Information
Unscored
This beta feature is currently viewable only on desktop or tablet screens. Check back later for updates.
Largest Programs
Sustainable Surf reported its three largest programs on its FY 2019 Form 990 as:
$162,070
Spent in most recent FY
41%
Percent of program expenses
SEA TREES-RESTORE COASTAL ECOSYSTEM BY RESTORING, REPLANTING AND PROTECTING COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS AROUND THE WORLD BY PLANTING SEA TREES.
$124,385
Spent in most recent FY
32%
Percent of program expenses
DEEP BLUE PROJECT-ASSISTED SURFING EVENT PRODUCERS TO FOLLOW GUIDELINES TO INCREASE THE ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF THEIR EVENT BY ADDRESSING ITS OPERATIONAL, ENVIRONMENTAL & COMMUNITY FOOTPRINT.
$79,720
Spent in most recent FY
20%
Percent of program expenses
ECOBOARD PROJECT - PROMOTED THE USE OF SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SURF EQUIPMENT.
Previous: Impact & Results / Next: Culture & Community
Leadership & Adaptability
This score provides an assessment of the organization's leadership capacity, strategic thinking and planning, and ability to innovate or respond to changes in constituent demand/need or other relevant social and economic conditions to achieve the organization's mission.
Leadership & Adaptability Score
100
out of 100
The score earned by Sustainable Surf is a passing score.
Encompass Rating V4 provides an evaluation of the organization's Leadership & Adaptability through the nonprofit organization submitting a survey response directly to Charity Navigator.
Leadership & Adaptability Report
100
of 100 points
Mission
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s mission
Sustainable Surf uses the power of surf culture to inspire actions that protect ocean health and reverse climate change. Our global programs, like SeaTrees (https://sea-trees.org/) and the ECOBOARD Project (http://www.sustainablesurf.org/ecoboard/), provide direct and measurable ways for individuals and companies to create a positive impact on our planet.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Vision
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s vision.
We believe that the ocean has the “superpower” to reverse climate change, but it needs our help to be more effective. We must take actions that protect and restore blue carbon ecosystems, which are the most powerful ecosystems on Earth for carbon sequestration. There's no time to waste – the global scientific consensus is clear that we have the next 10 years to reduce our collective carbon footprint. Thus, our programs make it easy to take action through planting mangrove trees, restoring kelp forests, regenerating coral reefs and seagrass meadows, and protecting coastal watersheds.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Strategic Goals
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: Our SeaTrees Program has been successful and planted one million “SeaTrees” in 6 blue carbon projects over its first two years. Our next goal is to develop 100 blue carbon projects globally by 2030.
Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.
Goal Two: As we rapidly scale the SeaTrees Program, we are focused on growing our organization’s staff and capability to reach our goal of 100 blue carbon projects by 2030.
Goal Type: Invest in the capacity of our organization (financial, management, technical, etc.).
Goal Three: We will increase our educational outreach for individuals and corporations. To inspire them to take action to reduce their impact on the ocean and climate change, and directly support ocean health.
Goal Type: This goal reflects our commitment to further our advocacy work for our organization and or cause area.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Leadership Development
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development
Describe an investment in leadership
Co-founder Michael Stewart has participated in a presentation and pitch development and mentoring program. This enabled Michael and the organization to refine our approach to developing relationships and seeking funding from larger-scale donors. Staff involved in the day-to-day communications of SeaTrees participate in ongoing development courses to improve communications related to the e-commerce platform’s message.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Mobilizing for Mission
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
This organization mobilizes for mission in the following ways:
Strategic Partnerships
Thought Leadership
Raising Awareness
Policy Advocacy
What are this organization’s external mobilizaton efforts?
External mobilization is a core component of our program delivery, through education on threats to ocean health and direct actions to protect and restore ocean health. We use social media, blogs, and email, plus the extensive reach of our partners, to reach a global community of people and other stakeholders. In particular, our corporate partners exponentially increase the visibility of our programs through their communications. Our team gives talks and presentations at public conferences, such as Sustainable Brands, and to the employees of our corporate partners. We also engage in scientific research on blue carbon ecosystems with other nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. While not a core focus of the organization, we work directly with legislators to include ocean-health protection in our home-state of California. Finally, we work with media and journalists to produce articles and films about our work. We have been featured recently in National Geographic and CNN.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Story of Adaptability
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
While the pandemic of 2020 was extremely challenging, we navigated it fairly well and actually increased our revenue and impact. We have always connected with community of ocean lovers through the power of our social media channels, our website, and email. Our organization has always operated from virtual offices. So our core business operations we minimally affected by the pandemic. Our largest program, SeaTrees, operates using an online platform where people and brands can restore and protect blue carbon ecosystems. This allows our community of supporters to take action no matter where they are, and operated very well during the pandemic. Additionally, our SeaTrees project partners, who physically conduct the blue carbon ecosystem restoration, were all able to continue work during the pandemic. In fact, our funding was critical to their economic survival as tourism and other key sources of income disappeared. Our second largest program is the Ecoboard Project, which verifies sustainable surfboards. During the pandemic, surfing experienced an extraordinary boom in popularity because surfing is an outdoor sport that is relatively safe. All surfboard and paddleboard builders had their strongest sales in their history during the pandemic. This further amplifies our message and reach. The most significant impact from the pandemic was being unable to travel to SeaTrees projects to conduct audits, verifications, and new project assessments. We solved this problem with a greater reliance on digital conferencing and communication tools and through hiring local trusted partners to conduct on-the-ground evaluations of new projects abroad. Additionally, two of our smaller programs could not operate during the pandemic (Waste to Waves and Deep Blue Surfing Events). However these generate a very small amount of revenue for the organization, and we decided to suspend their operation until the world can go back to “normal” operation.
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
Previous: Leadership & Adaptability
Culture & Community
This score provides an assessment of the organization's culture and connectedness to the community it serves. Learn more about how and why we rate Culture & Community.
Culture & Community Score
Not Currently Scored
Sustainable Surf is currently not eligible for a Culture & Community score because we have not received its Constituent Feedback or Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion data. Nonprofit organizations are encouraged to fill out the How We Listen and Equity Practices sections of their Candid profile.
Note: The absence of a score does not indicate a positive or negative assessment, it only indicates that we have not yet evaluated the organization.
Culture & Community Report
Unscored
This beta feature is currently viewable only on desktop or tablet screens. Check back later for updates.
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
This organization has not provided information regarding the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices it is presently implementing. As such, the organization has not earned a score on this metric. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations implementing effective DEI policies and practices can enhance a nonprofit's decision-making, staff motivation, innovation, and effectiveness.
Methodology
We are utilizing data collected by Candid to document and assess the DEI practices implemented by the organization. Nonprofit organizations are encouraged to fill out the Equity Strategies section of their Candid profiles to receive a rating.
Learn more about the methodology.
Constituent Feedback
Constituent Feedback and Listening Practice data are not available for this organization. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations that engage in inclusive practices, such as collecting feedback from the people and communities they serve, may be more effective.
Methodology
We've partnered with Candid to survey organizations about their feedback practices. Nonprofit organizations can fill out the How We Listen section of their Candid profile to receive a rating.
Learn more about the methodology.
Analysis and Research
Like the overall Encompass Rating System, the Culture & Community Beacon is designed to evolve as metrics are developed and ready for integration. Below you can find more information about the metrics we currently evaluate in this beacon and their relevance to nonprofit performance.
