California · Nonprofit
SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC
SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC (California) receives grants from 31 organizations whose IRS filings report $24,300,797 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($5,072,500). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 77% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.9M
- Funders on record
- 31
- Grants received
- $24M
- Net assets
- $6.8M
What Sustainable Ocean Alliance Inc does
Mission
Sustainable ocean alliance empowers the next generation to become leaders in preserving the health and sustainability of our ocean.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
Sustainable ocean alliance has been added a new program under ecopreneur network in 2024.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
The ocean leadership program supports ocean leaders who are actively raising awareness of ocean challenges in their communities, creating ocean solutions, and influencing others to take ocean action. Young ocean leaders are members of the soa community who are under 35 years of age and have demonstrated a concrete commitment to un sdg14: life below water. Overall, soa's global network of young ocean leaders are spearheading projects that address the causes of ocean harm such as unsustainable fishing, marine pollution, and habitat destruction in over 150 countries worldwide.
$2,295,593 spentof which $142,798 as grants42% of program spendingThe ocean solutions program provides financial grants, fellowships and mentorship to project leaders who are under 36 and addressing critical ocean issues with grassroots, collaborative approaches. The ocean solution program also invests in early stage startup companies developing innovative solutions to sustain and restore the health of our ocean.
$1,824,395 spentof which $237,643 as grants$81,000 earned by the program33% of program spendingProgram marketing: strategic promotion and communication aimed specifically to increase awareness of the global movement to save our ocean. This includes education programs, program launches, and targeted marketing to drive participation and engagement.
$845,046 spent15% of program spendingEcopreneur network : a program of lifetime support that assembles the world's most ambitious ocean ventures, and amplifies their efforts to achieve transformative planetary impact.
$499,776 spentof which $1,000 as grants$90,000 earned by the program9% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,464,810.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 $4.8M to $12M (+143%).
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 4% · 2022 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
96% of SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE 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. 4 of the last 7 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
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 17 funders, grant income rose $6k → $10M.
13 of 31 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 77% 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 SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 31 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
SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
79% 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 SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 73% · 2020 71% · 2021 53% · 2022 27% · 2023 44% — 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
56% of SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% 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
77% of SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE 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 $5.7M that is directly attributable, 83% of it comes from funders outside California, across 7 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $19M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC is better cushioned than half of the 2,186 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,186 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $15k on record.
- Department of State$15k
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 SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE 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 California
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
64%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 26 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Soa Seabird Ventures LLC · partnership
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE 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 SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC?
- SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC (California) receives grants from 31 organizations whose IRS filings report $24,300,797 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($5,072,500). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 77% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC have?
- IRS filings report 31 organizations giving $24,300,797 in grants to SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC, 19 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $5,072,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2018–2024), and the filings of 31 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