California · Nonprofit
WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS
WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS (California) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,727,961 to it, the largest being JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SAN DIEGO ($1,361,974). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 93% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $693k
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $1.7M
- Net assets
- $128k
What Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans does
Mission
Mission is to continue walter munk's legacy of daring exploration and discovery through scientific research, education, and ocean conservation.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans continues walter munk's legacy of daring exploration and discovery through scientific research, education and ocean conservation with focus on inspring stewardship through a variety of activities: - walter munk educational plaza, located in kellogg park (la jolla shores), features the map of the grand canyons of la jolla, a 2,434 sq. Ft. Lithomosaic educational tool depicting the underwater park and ecological reserves offshore, illustrating 123 local life-sized species; marine protected areas; local dive sites and features; tidepools; educational panels. The foundation hosts meet me at the map, docent, and beach clean-up programs.- we provide field trips to the map (ocean) for students from the san diego's underserved communities approximately 80% have never been to the ocean!- we host an annual walter munk day ~ celebrate our oceans event to raise awareness of the fragility of the oceans and our environment and inspire stewardship. It includes 30+ exhibitors with interactive educational ocean-related activities for children of all ages.
$195,655 spentof which $1,100 as grants$19,442 earned by the program43% of program spendingWalter munk visited altaussee, austria in august 2018 to arrange for an expedition to study lake altaussee in the spring of 2019. It was his way of giving back to his boyhood community he loved, by providing information on the lake that would allow the community to preserve its pristine alpine treasure. It was a multi-disciplinary research effort to obtain a better scientic understanding of lake altaussee in terms of its cultural, ecological, and geological signicance. Over the past four years, the study has expanded to include 28 scientists, researchers, phd and masters students. Erwin heine, ph.d., university of natural resources and applied life science in vienna is the pi for the expeditions. Dimitri deheyn, ph.d., from scripps institution of oceanography joined us to work with the local high school students to further his study of plastics and their impact in the lake and the surrounding area. We are arranging a student exchange program that will provide an opportunity for internships in dimitri deheyn's lab at scripps.
$255,562 spent56% of program spendingWmfo supports conservation efforts for the mobula munkiana, walter's namesake, the smallest of the manta rays, found in warm and temperate seas. It is considered vulnerable due to fishing bycatch pressure and habitat loss. The foundation supports scientists and organizations conducting mobula munkiana research, conservation and education activities. The goal is to find effective conservation measures to protect critical habitat.
$8,077 spentof which $2,800 as grants2% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $459,294.
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 $17k to $102k (+498%).
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 3% · 2022 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS’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. 1 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
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $10k → $492k.
6 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 93% 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 WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS’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
WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 79% of grant income and the top three 93%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
95% 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 WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 62% · 2023 77% — 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
57% of WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS's funders are still giving 1 year after their first grant; 46% 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
93% of WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS'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 $113k that is directly attributable, 92% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS has grown faster than three-quarters of the 4,264 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,264 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS
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
66% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
68%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS: 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 WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS?
- WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS (California) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,727,961 to it, the largest being JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SAN DIEGO ($1,361,974). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 93% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $1,727,961 in grants to WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS?
- JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SAN DIEGO is the largest funder on record, with $1,361,974 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS 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 13 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