Rhode Island · Nonprofit
SALT PONDS COALITION INC
SALT PONDS COALITION INC (Rhode Island) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $188,780 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($151,650). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 87% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $203k
- Funders on record
- 20
- Grants received
- $189k
- Net assets
- $300k
What Salt Ponds Coalition Inc does
Mission
Salt Ponds Coalition's mission is to protect and enhance the health of Rhode Island's salt ponds for the benefit of wildlife and people. In operation since 1985, we are the oldest continually operating volunteer marine water-quality monitoring program in the nation. We partner with environmental non-profits and municipal, state, and federal agencies to complete restoration projects and advocate for healthy pond ecosystems. Our programs are designed to educate people of all ages about the importance of this vital resource and inspire them to become stewards of Rhode Island's salt ponds.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Pond Watching Program: Water samples are collected in the RI coastal salt ponds on a bi-weekly basis from May through October at 28 sites across the six major salt ponds, including one on a nearby river. This work is done by approximately 35 volunteers. At the end of 2025, after another local non-profit disbanded we agreed to test two more sites on the aforementioned river which has a direct connection and greatly impacts one of the salt ponds. SPC test for a variety of indicators of waterbody health including bacteria, nutrients, temperature, and pH; and our samples are analyzed by a local quality-controlled lab. Results are made available to the public, including our membership which totals over 580 households, as well state agencies and local municipalities. Cost of analysis and staff time is included.
$72,150 spentof which $17,350 as grants32% of program spendingEducation and Outreach: SPC works to connect people of all ages to their local environment and specifically the salt ponds by hosting field trips for local schools and other outreach activities. In Spring 2025, SPC hosted various age groups from pre-school up through middle-school students from multiple schools on pond-side outdoor activities as well as at a local nature center. Additionally, throughout the summer SPC worked with children at various summer camps providing outdoor educational programing, as well as our own free and open to the public Salt Pond Safaris which is a catch and release education program for geared to engage children and their families. Finally, we provide programming for adults as well in the form of paddle trips, bird walks, an art-focused program, and presentations from local experts in regards to salt pond issues and improvements, water-quality, and birding. In addition to these education programs, we hosted a beach clean-up, and had outreach tables at multiple farmer's markets, town-sponsored events, neighborhood meetings, and events hosted by our local indigenous tribe. All of our events last year reached out to over 750 people. Much of this work is…
$49,000 spent22% of program spendingAdvocacy and Restoration: Interact with local municipalities, state agencies, and other groups to advocate for the health of the salt ponds, help execute restoration programs, and to educate the local communities on ways they can support these projects. Restoration projects in 2025 included a nutrient reduction pilot watershed project, two breachway repair and restoration initiatives one of which has been see through to completion (in 2026), and a water connectivity project focused on improving water quality in two negatively impacted coves. We have over 580 members in our organization and have interacted with hundreds of people in the local community.
$23,000 spent10% of program spendingGrowing our membership and maintaining our organization ensures our ability to continue to advocate for, educate about, and monitor the health of our salt ponds. With over 550 members, keeping in contact with our members as part of our outreach campaigns and gather input as to what they observe as to the health of the ponds is a serious task. We strive to keep our constituents informed by hosting lectures featuring experts and local government officials throughout the year.
$79,435 spent36% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $223,585.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 $294k to $320k (+9%).
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: 2025 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
90% of SALT PONDS COALITION INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 5 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 5 funders, grant income rose $900 → $11k.
4 of 20 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 87% 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 SALT PONDS COALITION INC’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
SALT PONDS COALITION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 80% of grant income and the top three 87%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
87% 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 SALT PONDS COALITION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 56% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 61% · 2021 66% · 2022 55% · 2023 95% — growing more concentrated.
“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
40% of SALT PONDS COALITION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 35% 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
87% of SALT PONDS COALITION INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $25k that is directly attributable, 89% of it comes from funders outside Rhode Island, across 9 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $164k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
SALT PONDS COALITION INC is better cushioned than half of the 2,433 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,433 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like SALT PONDS COALITION INC
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 Rhode Island
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
100% 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 SALT PONDS COALITION INC: 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 SALT PONDS COALITION INC?
- SALT PONDS COALITION INC (Rhode Island) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $188,780 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($151,650). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 87% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SALT PONDS COALITION INC have?
- IRS filings report 20 organizations giving $188,780 in grants to SALT PONDS COALITION INC, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SALT PONDS COALITION INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $151,650 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SALT PONDS COALITION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Rhode Island. 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 Salt Ponds Coalition →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), 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