Amber and Adam Tarshis Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 272157842
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2018–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2017
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Phone
- 3233332116
- Rating
- 66
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Animal Protection and Welfare
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $3,941,968
- Expenses
- $917,117
- Assets
- $3,741,758
- Liabilities
- $128,691
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Amber Tarshis (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Mohammed Selman (Chief Scientist): $310,925 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Tarshis Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting animal welfare by advancing bold solutions that address the root causes of cruelty: overpopulation, education and alternative vegan food sources.
What it reported doing in 2024
Spay & Neuter Programs - The Foundation is developing next-generation, single-dose contraceptive vaccines for wild, stray, and companion animal populations. Our research focuses on scalable, non-surgical fertility control and dual purpose vaccines that also target infectious diseases. Key accomplishments in 2024: 1. Completed early-stage formulation of a long-acting contraceptive vaccine targeting feral pig and stray dog populations. 2. Initiated trials on a vaccine platform incorporating antigens for reproductive suppression and zoonotic disease immunity. 3. Built proprietary delivery system for non-invasion field deployment across diverse species. 4. Engaged with wildlife and municipal partners to begin regulatory and deployment planning.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 53
- Transparency & Controls: 65
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 78
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 23.1%; rating input score 23
- Program expense ratio: 91.2%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $166.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 76.7%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.08; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 33.9%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 19.3% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 29.7% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 32.2% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 23.1% of revenue deployed · 91.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $836K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $311K · 4 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2018 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 23/100.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.