Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Apr 1990.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
82 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
26 people listed on the 990; $1.0M paid to officers and key staff.
Chad Nelsen’s $252K as CEO is at the 52nd percentile of top reported officer pay among 324 $10–100M environment nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chad Nelsen | $251,790 | $239,800 | $220,000 | $193,800 | $174,712 |
| Michelle Kremer | $209,275 | $199,252 | $182,701 | $167,183 | $162,016 |
| Eduardo Anaya | $172,028 | $148,587 | $138,929 | $129,091 | $133,342 |
| Spencer Campbell | $160,783 | $155,868 | $145,742 | $129,894 | $124,845 |
| Zachary Plopper | $134,061 | $136,440 | $119,750 | — | — |
| Natalie Scarlata | $135,200 | — | — | — | — |
| Angela Howe-Stemrich | — | $133,992 | $124,007 | $114,303 | $108,909 |
| Lori Booth | $133,961 | $123,345 | $114,120 | $105,616 | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Protects the world's ocean, waves, and beaches from plastic pollution and environmental threats through a powerful activist network and grassroots advocacy campaigns.
Questions for The Surfrider Foundation
Your first name shows with your question. The Surfrider Foundation answers here, for everyone.
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Various environmental activities such as grass roots volunteer organizing, promoting reduction in single use plastics, promoting ocean friendly garden techniques, promoting beach water quality, beach access and beach and wave preservation.
Chapter & Club Network Support
We developed training materials, trained and assisted volunteers with campaign planning, and facilitated the chapters in their grass roots activist works.
Plastic Pollution
We encourage individuals, industry and governments to protect our ocean, waves and beaches by reducing plastics in the marine environment. Our rise above plastics and ocean friendly restaurants programs advocate for a reduction in single use plastics, for the recycling of all plastics and drives change in behavior that creates scalable…
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2022 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | FY22 | FY21 | FY20 | FY19 | FY18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of yearLn 1g | $422K | $524K | $492K | $453K | $395K |
| Given inLn 1b | $10K | $10K | |||
| SpentLn 1d–1f | $22K | $26K | $19K | $14K | $14K |
| Line | Start FY22 | End FY22 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $12.9M | $12.8M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $4.2M | $4.3M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $54K | $77K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $18.6M | $20.2M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $778K | $1.6M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $17.8M | $18.6M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $11K | $11K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $432K | $332K | $64K | $36K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $4.7M | $4.1M | $166K | $424K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $72K | $66K | $757 | $6K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $400K | $361K | $6K | $33K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $347K | $306K | $14K | $28K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $36K | $14K | $207 | $21K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $45K | $39K | $3K | $3K |
| Lobbying feesLn 11d | $181K | $181K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $2.0M | $1.5M | $157K | $276K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $379K | $331K | $2K | $47K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $548K | $453K | $80K | $15K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $481K | $395K | $58K | $27K |
| TravelLn 17 | $477K | $318K | $128K | $31K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $206K | $113K | $71K | $23K |
| Payments to affiliatesLn 21 | $30K | $20K | $10K | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $31K | $29K | $647 | $2K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $48K | $48K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $452K | $242K | $151K | $59K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $10.9M | $8.9M | $951K | $1.0M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 LatestFiled with the IRS Nov 14, 2025 | $14.5M | $14.5M | −$54K | $20.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Nov 14, 2024 | $14.3M | $13.5M | $817K | $19.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 ViewingFiled with the IRS Nov 15, 2023 | $12.3M | $10.9M | $1.4M | $18.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS Nov 16, 2022 | $13.6M | $8.9M | $4.7M | $17.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020Filed with the IRS Nov 12, 2021 | $12.6M | $8.3M | $4.3M | $13.2M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2022 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $12,280,357 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 18 of 18 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $12,280,357 across 12 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $10,864,451 across 19 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $20,166,105 assets, 16 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $18,569,831 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2022 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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