American Cochlear Implant Alliance Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
453568770
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2011, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Mclean, VA, USA
Phone
7035346146
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Ear and Throat Research

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,594,514
Expenses
$2,184,017
Assets
$2,160,182
Liabilities
$49,203

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DONNA SORKIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • DONNA SORKIN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $197,101 total reported compensation
  • LAURA ODATO DIRECTOR (OF OPERATIONS AND MARKETING): $128,750 total reported compensation
  • NICHOLE J WESTIN (DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS): $108,108 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To advance access to the gift of hearing provided by cochlear implantation through research, advocacy and awareness.

What it reported doing in 2024

Advocacy - aci alliance has organized a network of 130 state champions across the united states who support our national initiatives and address barriers to cochlear implantation in their home states. Aci alliance staff and members are supported by a public affairs firm that provides information and guidance on specific legal mechanisms and informational approaches. In recent years, we have addressed access to medicare, medicaid, private health insurance, and ensuring that parents have full information about early hearing detection and intervention for their child with hearing loss.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 55
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 90.3%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15.8%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.99; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.9%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75% of revenue deployed · 90.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $197K · 19 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $140K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.