New York · Nonprofit
WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC
WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC (New York) receives grants from 51 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,946,875 to it, the largest being The Essex Avenue Foundation ($575,000). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.8M
- Funders on record
- 51
- Grants received
- $3.9M
- Net assets
- $1.5M
What Waterfront Alliance Inc does
Mission
Since 2007, the waterfront alliance has grown into a coalition of more than 1,100 partner organizations working together to build, transform, revitalize, and protect accessible waterfronts for all communities. With more than 1,100 alliance partners, the organization serves as the new york-new jersey region's preeminent advocate for coastal resilience and adaptation, equitable waterfront access, a thriving maritime economy, and climate education.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
On its FY2023 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
Climate informed communities: waterfront alliance is on the frontlines preparing our communities and region for the impacts of climate change, while ensuring a better and more sustainable future for our region. We are the only organization in our region that brings together diverse stakeholders from the environmental world, local communities, volunteer organizations, businesses, the maritime industry, and the development community to reach consensus and act on the wide variety of issues impacting our harbor and waterfront. Climate informed communities (cic) helps communities in the new york and new jersey region that are most vulnerable to climate hazards and are facing social vulnerabilities. Through this program we aim to ensure people are: 1. Prepared for future climate risks. 2. Involved in the development of neighborhood level plans for climate related topics such as infrastructure, land use, urban forestry, stormwater management, and nature-based solutions. In new york city, cic works directly, in parallel, and as an enhancement of the mayor's climate strong communities by bringing the most basic and greatly needed climate resilience and preparedness tools, information, and resources to frontline communities. Cic is, in addition, a direct extension of the waterfront alliance's estuary explorers program, which reaches youth, schools, and teachers across the region."
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Wedg (waterfront edge design guidelines): - the next version of wedg is launched and covers freshwater systems, formally establishing wedg as a fully national standard for waterfront design. - offshore wind developers in new york and new jersey sign on for wedg commitments in their bids for offshore wind projects. - the first-ever cohort of high school students, from the new york harbor school, complete the wedg professionals course, preparing them to pursue education and careers in climate resilient design. - jose marti park in miami becomes the first project in florida and twelfth nationally to receive wedg (waterfront edge design guidelines) verificationthe gold standard in waterfront design. - in may 2023, waterfront alliance's wedg program is accepted by gresb, the national environmental, social and governance (esg) benchmark for real estate assets, for full points as a component of their certification. Waterfront education and access: - we bring stem-based climate and waterfront education to more than 1,200 students and 36 classrooms across new york city through estuary explorers. - with more than 180 community volunteers, we cleanup 3,600 pounds of trash from waterways and…
$1,770,436 spentof which $34,802 as grants$145,979 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2023 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,770,436.
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 $1.9M to $3.0M (+61%).
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: 2017 13% · 2020 9% · 2021 27% · 2022 12% · 2023 20% · 2024 12%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
89% of WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (61% 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
Cortney Worrall
President and CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 23 funders, grant income rose $163k → $860k.
6 of 51 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% 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 WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 51 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
WATERFRONT ALLIANCE 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
26% 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 WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 52% · 2018 23% · 2019 54% · 2020 48% · 2021 23% · 2022 17% · 2023 23% — 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 WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
72% of WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $458k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC's funding base is broadening — from 9 funders to 23 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,203 community improvement nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $533k on record — $531k federal, $2k state.
- Department of Commerce$531k
- FEDERAL$1k
- DIRECT STATE SERVICES - NON-SALARY$875
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 WATERFRONT 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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
86%
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 WATERFRONT 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 WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC?
- WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC (New York) receives grants from 51 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,946,875 to it, the largest being The Essex Avenue Foundation ($575,000). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC have?
- IRS filings report 51 organizations giving $3,946,875 in grants to WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC, 32 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC?
- The Essex Avenue Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $575,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 Waterfront Alliance →
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 51 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