Colorado · Nonprofit
Ocean First Institute
Ocean First Institute (Colorado) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $495,819 to it, the largest being TECUMSEH FOUNDATION ($150,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $599k
- Funders on record
- 20
- Grants received
- $496k
- Net assets
- $537k
What Ocean First Institute does
Mission
The mission of Ocean First Institute is ocean conservation through research and education. We work to deepen the natural connection between people and the ocean. We educate and empower people to understand the ocean is our life support system no matter where we live, and that we need a healthy ocean to have a healthy planet. We provide individuals the opportunity to engage in activities that support sustainability, biodiversity, and improvethe health of our ocean.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
1. Plastic Pollution Monitoring Program Collection of water and sediment samples in Florida and Colorado to identify microplastics and microfibers. Students analyze samples using microscopes, with further analysis conducted at the FAU Henderson School laboratory. Students also participate in summits to present findings and discuss actionable solutions. Ocean First Institute received in-kind support in the form of donated use of laboratory space from Florida Atlantic University Lab Schools.
$118,988 spent$18,913 earned by the program28% of program spending2. Ocean First Discovery Center Online Courses Launch of over 18 online education courses available on the website, reaching thousands of students and members of the general public.
$134,293 spent$93,085 earned by the program32% of program spending3. Shark Field CourseShark research conducted from the Key Largo, Florida lab, focusing on abundance, seasonality, and species within a marine protected area in the Florida Keys. Undergraduate students are trained through four summer courses on marine science research methods. Ocean First Institute received in-kind support in the form of donated use of lab space from Marine Lab, donated research boat vessel use from International Seakeepers Society, and donated trailer and shed use from other community partners.
$170,767 spentof which $214 as grants$59,105 earned by the program40% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $424,048.
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 2023 to 2024, from $146k to $564k (+287%).
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: 2021 11% · 2022 10% · 2024 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
72% of Ocean First Institute’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Mikki McComb-Kobza
Executive Director
Board chair
John Stuart
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $16k → $57k.
6 of 20 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 36% 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 Ocean First Institute’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 19 of 20 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
Ocean First Institute leans on a few funders — its largest provides 30% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
54% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Ocean First Institute.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 69% · 2019 100% · 2020 34% · 2021 59% · 2022 58% · 2023 35% — 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
33% of Ocean First Institute's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 40% 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
Ocean First Institute draws 66% of its grant income from funders outside Colorado, across 10 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $177k 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
Ocean First Institute has grown faster than three-quarters of the 16,849 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like Ocean First Institute
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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Ocean First Institute: 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 Ocean First Institute?
- Ocean First Institute (Colorado) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $495,819 to it, the largest being TECUMSEH FOUNDATION ($150,000). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Ocean First Institute have?
- IRS filings report 20 organizations giving $495,819 in grants to Ocean First Institute, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Ocean First Institute?
- TECUMSEH FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $150,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Ocean First Institute find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Ocean First Institute →
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 20 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing