The Ocean Foundation
1320 19th Street, NW, Suite 500
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 887-8996 ext 1121
Website: www.oceanfdn.org
Contacts:
Eddie Love
Program Officer
elove@oceanfdn.org
Isabel Getz
Program Manager
igetz@oceanfdn.org
Faith Lyles
Program Assistant
flyles@oceanfdn.org
Year organization became a 501(c)(3): 2002
Year of first fiscal sponsorship: 2003
Number of sponsored projects: 54
Fiscal sponsorship fee:
The Ocean Foundation charges a fee on all incoming revenue for “infrastructure and administration.” The Ocean Foundation charges an additional 5% plus the base fee for all funds from public sources (government). All other ancillary services are billed on an hourly rate basis as needed in consultation with its projects. Direct/Comprehensive: 10% of all incoming revenue Pre-Approved Grant Relationships: 9% of all incoming revenue
Eligibility criteria:
- Aligned mission/values
- Geographic: Global. We accept projects from anywhere in the world.
- Minimum budget: Model A and B: $25,000/year fundraising requirement; Model C: $10,000/year fundraising requirement
- Other: Robust monitoring/evaluation and outcome-tracking
Types of projects or services we sponsor:
- Environment/sustainable growth
- Other: Ocean and coastal marine conservation
Services we offer projects:
- Auditing
- Bill paying
- Bookkeeping/accounting
- Human resource management
- Insurance
- Legal services
- Organizational development
- Payroll
- Receiving property and stock donations
- Tax reporting
- Other: Infrastructure and Administration, which covers: Executive management — The whole value of maintaining a corporation: directors, officers, minutes, annual registrations, bylaw updates. Maintaining tax exemption — Investing in staying abreast of constantly changing tax and regulatory rules. Tracking the project’s funds as a separate account on our books, and provide projects a monthly report on revenues and disbursements. Handling all financial transactions and account management with the best practices foe internal controls. Issuing a tax receipt letter for all donations regardless of size. Fully independent auditing. Maintaining fidelity and D&O insurance so that funds are protected. Providing payroll and retirement services for employees (if any). The Ocean Foundation builds the capacity of its fiscally sponsored projects and assists in programmatic development through consultation with its accomplished network of board members, professional staff, other project managers, grantees, senior fellows, and ocean heroes, which represent diverse fields of expertise, including marine conservation, ocean governance, scientific research, and fisheries management. The Ocean Foundation’s reputation on substantive issues and good will with marine funders and NGOs helps projects succeed. We also offer custom intellectual property agreements for “creative works” (i.e. books, films, etc.), as well as communications and outreach support through project promotion in annual reports, social media, and other public-facing communications.
Based on Fiscal Sponsorship: 6 Ways to Do It Right: Our model(s) of fiscal sponsorship are:
- Model A, Direct Project
- Model B, Independent Contractor Project
- Model C, Preapproved Grant Relationship
Organization description:
The Ocean Foundation is a unique community foundation with a mission to support, strengthen, and promote those organizations dedicated to reversing the trend of destruction of ocean environments around the world. The Ocean Foundations works with donors who care about our coasts and oceans to provide financial resources to marine conservation initiatives through the following lines of business: Committee and Donor Advised Funds, Field of Interest grantmaking Funds, Fiscal Sponsorship Funds, and Consulting services.