Washington · Nonprofit
SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY
SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY (Washington) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $411,812 to it, the largest being LIGHTHOUSE ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS ($302,683). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $188k
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $412k
- Net assets
- $124k
What Sound Water Stewards of Island County does
Mission
Train volunteers working in and around island county for a healthy, sustainable puget sound environment through education, community outreach, stewardship, and citizen science.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Since 2016 sound water stewards has been mobilizing community power to prootct the fragile marine and shoreline ecosystems of island county and the greater salish sea. We have a simple, powerful goal: to build a healthier, more sustainable marine environment by giving people the knowledge,tools and opportunities to take action. Each year, more than 500 members donate over 17,000 volunteer hours to support outreach education, collect data for community science programs that contribute to research projects and actively engage in stewardship projects. We achieve this by providing fact based, nonpartisan environmental information when its needed most. We believe when people are given knowledge and a way to contribute, change happens. Sound water stewards collaborates closely with local,state and tribal partners.
$104,752 spent$12,266 earned by the program77% of program spendingSound waters university is a one-day environmental education event, followed by an optional day of field trips focusing on related topics in marine settings. The program is designed by volunteer members who gather experts in environmental fields to educate members and the public. In addition to keynote speakers, attendees may choose from a variety of classes that cover areas such as marine mammals, forage fish habitat, shoreline restoration, effects to the marine environment due to climate change. The conference draws over 300 attendees who rate the content exceptional in post event surveys. The university provides an opportunity for state and local partners to engage with attendees, to share their purpose and expand opportunities for involvement. The event helps to fund other initiatives throughout the year.
$16,676 spent$35,163 earned by the program12% of program spendingOur volunteer education and training program trains up to 40 students annually participants learn the importance of stewarding the marine ecosystem surrounding whidbey and camano islands. Students commit to enrolling in a 10 week, rigorous program teaching students about marine life, environmental impacts and how to protect our shorelines. Trained stewards give back by volunteering and contribute over 17,000 hours annually through nearly 30 projects through long time partnerships with local and statewide organizations such as wa dept of fish and wildlife, scientists from universities and local tribal biologists. Education projects build public awareness. Community science initiatives monitor and inform researchers and decision makers on the health of our shoreline, bluffs, water quality, shellfish harvesting and more.
$9,707 spent$5,825 earned by the program7% of program spendingExec director allocates a portion of his salary to allow for time spent on concepts and ideas for future program development.
$4,317 spent3% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $135,452.
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 2022 to 2023, from $192k to $124k (−36%).
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: 2022 15%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
73% of SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 4 funders, grant income fell $49k → $47k.
2 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% 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 SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY’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
SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 74% of grant income and the top three 90%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
81% 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 SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 78% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 51% · 2022 50% · 2023 74% — 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
50% of SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 44% 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
88% of SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY's grant income comes from Washington funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $6k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY's revenue grew 48% between 2017 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,266 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY
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.
Public support
99%
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 SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY: 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 SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY?
- SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY (Washington) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $411,812 to it, the largest being LIGHTHOUSE ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS ($302,683). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $411,812 in grants to SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY?
- LIGHTHOUSE ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS is the largest funder on record, with $302,683 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SOUND WATER STEWARDS OF ISLAND COUNTY 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 Sound Water Stewards of Island County →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 9 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