Florida · Nonprofit
STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC
STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC (Florida) receives grants from 58 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,006,459 to it, the largest being CO TUA FORTITUDE FOUNDATION ($600,000). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.4M
- Funders on record
- 58
- Grants received
- $4.0M
- Net assets
- $3.9M
What Star of the Sea Foundation Inc does
Mission
The Organization provides goods and services to the indigent and underprivilidged residents of Key West. The services are provided with respect and compassion with no costs to the individuals served.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
Star of the Sea Foundation (SOS) distributes Food, clothing and household items and Services to the indigent and underprivileged residents of the Florida Keys. Our emphasis is on food. Our services include providing access and information about applying for food stamps, temporary cash assistance, Medicaid and other services as needed and appropriate.In 2024, over 200 volunteers contributed a total of 24,420 hours to help us achieve our mission. 1.6 million pounds of food was donated to or purchased by SOS and redistributed to residents of Monroe County who were in need. During 2024, over 11,000 residents were served by our food pantries in Key West and Key Largo. Produce makes up 50% of the food distributed. In addition our community kitchen prepared meals for kids, adults and seniors. By pairing health-focused initiatives, like cooking education opportunities with the availability of healthy foods, our food pantries improve food security for thousands of Monroe County residents. 89,265 meals were prepared at SOS's Callahan Community Kitchen - an increase of 23% over prior year.With over half of Monroe County, Florida residents struggling with the cost of living and lack of…
$4,279,136 spentof which $3,344,218 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $4,279,136.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 2019 to 2020, from $2.5M to $6.2M (+145%).
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: 2019 10% · 2020 13% · 2021 10% · 2022 7% · 2023 20% · 2024 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (51% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 6 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
Thomas M Callahan
Director/CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 16 funders to 17 funders, grant income rose $210k → $416k.
9 of 58 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 23% 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 STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 58 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
STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 15% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
39% 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 STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 21% · 2018 24% · 2019 24% · 2020 27% · 2021 42% · 2022 29% · 2023 47% — 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
39% of STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% 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
60% of STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC's grant income comes from Florida funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $924k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC is better cushioned than half of the 8,126 health nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 8,126 health nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.0M on record — $1.3M federal, $643k state.
- Department of Agriculture$1.2M
- Corporation for National and Community Service$75k
- FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE - GENERAL $640k
- REFUNDS - GENERAL $3k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION 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 Florida
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
94% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
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 STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION 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 STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC?
- STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC (Florida) receives grants from 58 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,006,459 to it, the largest being CO TUA FORTITUDE FOUNDATION ($600,000). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 58 organizations giving $4,006,459 in grants to STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC, 31 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC?
- CO TUA FORTITUDE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $600,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like STAR OF THE SEA FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Florida. 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 Star of the Sea →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2019–2024), and the filings of 58 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