A non-noble oxygen reduction catalyst based on nickel-manganese oxide supported on high-surface area carbon has been synthesized by a mild hydrothermal treatment, resulting in nanocrystalline needles. Cyclic voltammetry showed the electrochemical redox characteristics of this material, evidencing the appearance of peaks associated to consecutive reversible transitions involving Mn(IV)/Mn(III) and Mn(III)/Mn(II). The catalyst displayed a high activity for the oxygen reduction, despite that the complete reduction was not achieved, consuming less than three electrons of the four available in the oxygen molecule. More importantly, this activity did not decay under the presence of ethanol, revealing the high ethanol tolerance of this material. Finally, single-cell results have demonstrated the suitability of this material as cathode catalysts for alkaline DEFC: The open circuit voltage and the maximum power densities are close to those obtained by a standard Pt/C catalyst. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.