North Carolina · Nonprofit
THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES INC
THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES INC (North Carolina) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $166,000 to it, the largest being FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS ($165,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 99% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $49k
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $166k
- Net assets
- $72k
What The Pollution Detectives Inc does
Mission
The pollution detectives, inc's mission is to make invisible pollution visible by loaning easy-to-use tools and providing support to help individuals and communities identify and address air quality problems, ultimately protecting human health with a focus on school environments, helping to ensure students and staff learn and work in healthier air.for tax year 2024, the pollution detectives, inc.'s work consisted of many types of activities--speaking, writing, publishing, and providing free tools for surveying--each dedicated to improving the indoor environment in schools and to promoting and protecting public health.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
1. Educational publications.a. Educator newsletter, the optimistic futurist, sent to a subscriber list of almost 14,000 educators, public officials, and community leaders.during 2024, our organization wrote and distributed nine editions of the optimistic futurist on topics detailed in the table below. Along with the feature articles enumerated here, each newsletter provided links to 5 to 10 synopses, each written by our staff, of current local, state and federal funding opportunities in areas related to k-12 education. Further, each newsletter announced upcoming webinars and classes presented by environmental agencies or leaders, offered free access to our equipment for surveying indoor air quality, and contained numerous references to additional resources.b. Tutorial videos and social posts on two websites, www.thepollutiondetectives.org and www.theoptimisticfuturist.org, and two social media pages, the optimistic futurist's facebook page, and ceo francis p. Koster's linkedin page.during 2024, our organization created and published a series of six videos on the perils of microplastics--its sources, health consequences, and ways to avoid it toxic effects. The series was made…
$0 spent2. Surveying and consultation.throughout 2024, our organization freely lent surveying equipment to community colleges, civic organizations, public agencies and private residences. At no cost to borrowers, our equipment measured the indoor air quality of buildings and rooms across six dimensions: co2, co, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, temperature and humidity. We produced over 200 discrete, weekly indoor air quality reports detailing the levels of each class of chemical, and offered consultation services to equipment borrowers regarding ways to correct undesirable results.
$0 spent3. Informative presentations and newspaper columns.during 2024, ceo francis p. Koster shared his knowledge about environmental risks to k-12 students and the general public in both live presentations and newspaper columns. To build awareness, he delivered (x number of) lectures to community college students and civic groups, and produced 7 columns for two local newspapers, the salisbury post and the independent tribune (set forth in the table below).
$0 spent
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $0.
Leadership and staff
Board chair
Tom Potter
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income held at $25k.
1 of 2 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 99% 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 THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES 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
THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 99% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
99% 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 THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 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
99% of THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES 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 $1k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from North Carolina funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $165k 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
THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,152 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,152 environment nonprofits under $100k, FY2024
Organizations like THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES 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 North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES 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 THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES INC?
- THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES INC (North Carolina) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $166,000 to it, the largest being FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS ($165,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 99% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES INC have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $166,000 in grants to THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES INC, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES INC?
- FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS is the largest funder on record, with $165,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE POLLUTION DETECTIVES INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. 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 Pollution Detectives →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2024–2024), and the filings of 2 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