Making Headway Foundation Inc

Overview

Mission

When a child is diagnosed with a brain or spinal cord tumor, the whole family needs a special kind of care and support. Making headway foundation was created in response to this need. Our humanistic support programs support children and their families from diagnosis through treatment and beyond. The foundation is also committed to funding medical research so better treatments and cures be found.

What it reported doing in 2024

Returning home from the hospital can be a disorienting and isolated feeling for the patients and for the parents and their family members. They find themselves struggling to adjust to a familiar place where everything has changed. To this end, making headway provides, free of charge, individual psychological and psyachiatric counseling for parents and their children who are diagnosed with a brain or spinal cord tumor and free of charge educational counseling for children surviving a brain or spinal cord tumor who have difficulties returning to school and keeping up with the curriculum.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 91% of its reported program work directly.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133906297
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Chappaqua, NY, USA
Rating
92
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Medical Research N.E.C.

Official website

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 43
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 85.8%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited
  • Public monitoring controls: Limited
  • Public policy transparency: Limited
  • Public financial transparency: Limited
  • Impact reporting controls: Limited
  • Public relationship transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Public governance controls: Limited
  • Zakat policy transparency: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -19%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Operating reserve ratio: 2.96; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.8% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 85.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 7 annual filings from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.