Washington · Nonprofit
OCTO
OCTO (Washington) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $231,376 to it, the largest being GULF AND CARIBBEAN FISHERIES INSTITUTE ($84,800). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $216k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $231k
- Net assets
- $85k
What Octo does
Mission
OCTO serves the field of ocean resource management with research and education-related services, including but not limited to newsletters, reports, websites, online knowledge-sharing events, and more.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Program service: EBM Help /// Management of an online discussion community on marine and coastal ecosystem-based management. Memberships are free; approximately 15,000 members. (Formerly this project was a newsletter called The Skimmer on Marine Ecosystems and Management. OCTO converted the newsletter to a discussion list.) Expenses include compensation, payroll taxes, office supplies, and information technology.
$44,818 spent35% of program spendingProgram service: MPA Help /// Management of an online discussion community on planning and management of marine protected areas. Memberships are free; approximately 13,000 subscribers. (Formerly this project was a newsletter called MPA News. OCTO converted the newsletter to a discussion list.) Expenses include compensation, payroll taxes, office supplies, and information technology.
$32,013 spent25% of program spendingProgram service: Ocean Plastic List /// Management of an online discussion community on management and prevention of marine litter. Memberships are free; approximately 6500 subscribers. Expenses include compensation, payroll taxes, office supplies, and information technology.
$51,220 spent40% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $128,051.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 $92k to $6k (−94%).
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: 2020 28% · 2021 24% · 2022 42% · 2023 0% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of OCTO’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. 1 of the last 5 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income fell $77k → $20k.
2 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% 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 OCTO’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
OCTO leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
67% 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 OCTO.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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.
Where its funders are
OCTO draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, across 2 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $70k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
OCTO runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 793 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 793 science & tech nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like OCTO
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 Washington
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
39%
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 OCTO: 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 OCTO?
- OCTO (Washington) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $231,376 to it, the largest being GULF AND CARIBBEAN FISHERIES INSTITUTE ($84,800). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does OCTO have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $231,376 in grants to OCTO, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of OCTO?
- GULF AND CARIBBEAN FISHERIES INSTITUTE is the largest funder on record, with $84,800 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like OCTO find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington. 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 Octo →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 4 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