About us
A new foundation, built in the open
BoatLife Foundation was formed on July 22, 2026. We are at the beginning, and this page is an honest account of exactly where that beginning stands today.
Our founding
Why this organization exists
Founded in 2026, BoatLife Foundation was established to advance boating safety, marine conservation, public education, and technological innovation for the benefit of waterways and the communities they serve.
Those four concerns are usually handled separately. Safety belongs to one agency, water quality to another, education to a third, and technology tends to arrive last, if at all. On any given weekend they are not separate at all. They are the same stretch of water, the same ramp, and the same family loading a boat.
We were formed to work at that intersection. Our founding team builds software and spends time on the water, so we intend to treat modern tools as part of the safety and conservation work rather than as a separate initiative.
We are new, and we would rather say so. Everything on this site is written to a single rule: planned work is described as planned, and nothing is claimed as delivered until it has been.
From the founder
Why I started this
I have spent most of my life on the water. Weekends running the boat out of a New Jersey marina, early mornings fishing the bays and inlets, long afternoons on the beach with my family. It is where I unwind and where I do my clearest thinking, and I have never taken a single day of it for granted.
Time on the water is also where the gaps become obvious. A family launching for the first time with no float plan and no one to ask. A creek that holds less life than it did a decade ago. Good people who were simply never shown how to cleat a line or read a chart before they needed to. Very little of that is anyone's fault, and most of it is fixable.
That is why I started BoatLife Foundation. If you spend time on the water too, in New Jersey or anywhere else, I would genuinely like to hear from you. Write to me directly.
Who we are
A New Jersey nonprofit corporation, registered and on the record
Everything in this list appears on a filing with the State of New Jersey or the Internal Revenue Service. Nothing here is aspirational.
- Legal name
- BoatLife Foundation, a NJ Nonprofit Corporation
- Formed
- July 22, 2026
- NJ Entity ID
- 0451499806
- Federal EIN
- 42-4010549
- Based in
- Holmdel, New Jersey
BoatLife Foundation is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Our current registration status, including anything still pending, is tracked in the milestones below.
The scope we set at formation
- Recreational Boating Safety
- Marine Conservation
- Public Education
- Technology & Innovation
- Community Engagement
- Waterway Accessibility
Milestones
Where we actually stand
Completed steps are marked complete. Everything else is labeled as upcoming, and stays that way until the filing or the program is genuinely done.
- July 22, 2026Complete
Incorporated in New Jersey
BoatLife Foundation was formed as a New Jersey nonprofit corporation, Entity ID 0451499806.
- July 22, 2026Complete
Federal EIN issued
The Internal Revenue Service assigned Employer Identification Number 42-4010549.
- July 22, 2026Complete
NJ business registration
Registered with the State of New Jersey for tax purposes.
- August 2026Complete
Federal tax exemption recognized
The Internal Revenue Service issued a determination letter recognizing the foundation as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3), effective July 22, 2026, the date of formation.
- NextUpcoming
NJ charitable registration
Registration with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. New Jersey exempts charities raising $10,000 or less per year from registering; we will register as contributions approach that threshold.
- AheadUpcoming
First programs in the water
Launch of initial safety and education programming with founding community partners.
Governance and transparency
Named people, accountable for the decisions
BoatLife Foundation is governed by a board of 3 founding trustees. They are listed publicly by name and role, and they are responsible for how this organization spends its time and its money.
A new organization has no track record to point to, so the only thing it can offer is a clear view of how it operates. These are the standards we are holding ourselves to from the first day.
Our commitments
- Publish our board of trustees by name, with roles, before we ask anyone for money.
- State our legal and tax status plainly, and update it only when a filing is actually complete.
- Report what each program costs and what it produced, including the results we did not expect.
- Describe planned work as planned, and finished work as finished, with no overlap between the two.
Questions about our governance or filings can go to info@boatlifefoundation.org.
We are choosing our first waterways now
Founding partners help decide which programs launch first and how their results get measured. If that is a conversation you want to be part of, it is open.