Skip to the page content
Your donations
Passes our checks

Clean Up the Cayes

EIN 82-5280324 · Olympia, WA

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthGood75 out of 100GovernanceGood76 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

ACTIVATE LOCAL COMMUNITIES TO JOIN US IN TAKING ACTION TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT, BOTH ABOVE AND BELOW THE SURFACE.

Income
$801,514
Spending
$523,621
Spent on programs
82%
Reserves
2.5 months of spending
Largest source of income
donations and private grants, 81%
Employees
10
Volunteers
275
Highest pay
$96,206, ceo

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Financial health

Good: 75 out of 100. Higher than 41% of charities in its peer group (environment, $250k to $1m).

  • Reserves

    10 of 35

    Spendable reserves would cover 2.5 months of spending.

  • Debt

    20 of 20

    It owes 6% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    15 of 15

    Income exceeded spending by 35% of income.

  • Income trend

    15 of 15

    Income rose 28% on the year before.

  • Spending floor

    15 of 15

    82% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 1 cents.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Governance

Good: 76 out of 100. Higher than 45% of charities in its peer group (environment, $250k to $1m).

  • Independent board

    25 of 25

    5 of 5 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    0 of 8

    Reports no written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    0 of 7

    Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    10 of 10

    Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • Pay set independently

    5 of 5

    Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.

  • Independent check of accounts

    6 of 15

    Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.

  • No reported misuse

    10 of 10

    Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Impact evidence

Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.

Programs described in its return (1)
  1. $427,093 spent. Lake Tahoe Buoyfield and Marina Cleanup (beginning a cleanup project to remove litter from the marinas around lake tahoe while also surveying or looking for any invasive species).Lake Tahoe Deep Clean Pilot (a deeper cleanup of litter in North Lake Tahoe; but this was a pilot project testing its feasibility and doing 14 cleanup days. We started this project but also had much to complete on it in 2025).Stampede Reservoir and Boca Reservoir Cleanups & Pilot Research: Here we didclean up dives and surveys of these two reservoirs to cleanup any and all litter we saw, look for any invasive species and see if these spots needed even bigger cleanups or not in the future.Minnesota Pilot Research on Mille Lacs: Here we had a grant from the state ofMinnesota where we performed pilot research and cleanup dives on Mille Lacs lake.Lake Mary Cleanup - This project included a full scale circumnavigated cleanup of the small remote lake called Lake Mary in the basin behind the town of Mammoth Lakes. We cleaned out a couple thousand pounds of litter and surveyed for any invasive species that may or may not have been present in the lake.Marlette Lake Pilot Research & Cleanup: We took people into a very remote lake viatrail and getting permitted access to do cleanups and pilot research to remove litter, see how bad it is and see if there was any other invasive species present as well.Outreach Events: We did a vairety of outreach working to clean up our environment at its root - which is prevention. So we held youth outreach events as well as moreindustry/government/business and non profit events like a Donner lake litter seminar, Lake tahoe litter summit and Tahoekeepers educational events. All of this outreach has the same message and mission of working to clean up our environment by tackling the problems at their root through education mostly through litter prevention but also some through prevention aquatic invasive species which also pollutes our environment.Environmental Dive Center Trainings: Here we ran a few training classes withvolunteers and interested people from the public to teach them how to do conservation diving and what we do on our clean ups so they can join us. We have a mix of classes that we offer to help people get the skills to join our team on cleanups and work.Educational Content & Communications: We also produced different communicationssurrounding our mission of cleanup & mitigating pollution to promote what we do andget the message of our mission out there to the masses in hopes that this curbs andprevents these issues in the first place. This included general newsletters, pressreleases at times, all the way to documentary content and videos made to share thismessage.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Legitimacy checks

  1. Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.

    Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  2. Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.

    Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.

    Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.

  3. Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.

    On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

    Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.

  4. Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.

    Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since July 2018.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  6. Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.

    Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.

    Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.

Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.