California · Nonprofit
ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION (California) receives grants from 30 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,218,295 to it, the largest being MASSEN GREENE FOUNDATION ($533,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $623k
- Funders on record
- 30
- Grants received
- $2.2M
- Net assets
- $707k
What Algalita Marine Research and Education does
Mission
To protect the marine environment and its watersheds through research, education, and restoration. The organization's main focus is onthe issue of plastic pollution and its effect on the marine ecosystem and potential risks to human health through the transfer of toxins from ingested plastic debris by fish and through the food chain. The organization's goal is to develop a clear understanding of the impact of plastics on our marine enviornment by educating the public about the ecological value and vulnerabilities of our oceans and how individual actions influence the marine ecosystem and human health.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Algalita's education programs connect students to their local environment through hands-on, place-based learning that builds understanding of larger environmental systems. In 2025, 948 students and ~100 educators participated in 35 field trips, engaging in water quality testing, microplastics investigations, and ecosystem exploration. Through wayfinder society, our global education platform, we reached students in 100+ countries, engaging ~100,000 students through classroom toolkits and distributing 600+ kits. Students completed 1,289 environmental actions totaling 3,915 hours. Leadership opportunities included ocean action leadership camp (60 students selected) and paid internships for 8 community college students, supporting a pathway from learning to leadership.
$430,538 spent$9,947 earned by the program86% of program spendingAlgalita's community programs create accessible opportunities for people to take part in environmental action in their daily lives. Through initiatives such as byo month, fix-it clinics, and cleanups, community members engaged in reducing waste and caring for local environments. These efforts resulted in measurable impacts, including waste diversion and reduced single-use plastics, while helping build a culture of environmental responsibility.algalita also supported community-led action through mini-grants, distributing over $18,000 to 20 student-led projects and to educator initiatives globally.
$56,807 spentof which $18,960 as grants11% of program spendingAlgalita integrates scientific research into education through its partnership with the moore institute for plastic pollution research. Students participate in a field-to-lab model, collecting samples and conducting water quality and microplastics analysis. Working alongside a state-accredited microplastics laboratory, students engage with real data, tools, and methodologies, deepening their understanding of how local environments connect to broader environmental challenges. In 2025, algalita also began developing clean bay collective, a community-based water quality monitoring initiative designed to expand local data collection and connect residents to ongoing environmental research.
$14,098 spent$8,498 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $501,443.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $559k to $782k (+40%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2023 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
91% of ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (79% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Katie Allen
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 14 funders, grant income rose $257k → $282k.
8 of 30 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 28 of 30 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 24% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 38% · 2018 28% · 2019 32% · 2020 27% · 2021 25% · 2022 30% · 2023 32% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
53% of ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 47% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
91% of ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $270k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 493 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 493 science & tech nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION?
- ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION (California) receives grants from 30 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,218,295 to it, the largest being MASSEN GREENE FOUNDATION ($533,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION have?
- IRS filings report 30 organizations giving $2,218,295 in grants to ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION?
- MASSEN GREENE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $533,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 30 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing