Answer Als
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 471643994
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2014
- Location
- New Orleans, LA, USA
- Phone
- 8004902375
- Rating
- 93
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Nerve, Muscle and Bone Diseases
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,817,907
- Expenses
- $3,245,884
- Assets
- $7,362,169
- Liabilities
- $464,664
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
11 people listed
People named in this filing
- BEVERLY GOULET (BOARD CHAIR)
- CLARE DURRETT (MANAGING DIRECTOR)
- PAUL VARISCO (BOARD MEMBER)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To find solutions for people living with als now and for the future by utilizing knowledge of patients, leading researchers and technology to seek immediate solutions to improve the lives of those living with als until a treatment or cure is found; discover what causes als; develop models to understand als and screen for drug and cellular therapy; discover therapies that could substantially slow or halt the progress of als and ultimately cure the disease; provide all gathered information free for worldwide use by clinicians, scientists and pharma to rapidly advance therapeutics.
What it reported doing in 2024
Creating the largest and most comprehensive foundation of als data ever amassed, encompansing clinical, chemical, genetic, protein, historical and biological data from an enormous sampling of als patients in the united states. In collaboration with machine learning and big data technology, the data will be mined to uncover als causes, subtypes, pathways gone awry and drug targets. This will establish a large and critical foundation for new clinical trials, develop new ways to categorize patients to identify specific druggable pathways and subtype biomarkers and disease pathophysiology to aid not only in early diagnosis of the disease, but also to monitor the efficacy of newly developed treatments.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 83% of its reported program spending out as grants.
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 97
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 42
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 96.8%; rating input score 97
- Fundraising efficiency: $69.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd 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; 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: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -15.2%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.27; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 96.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.1M 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: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.