Arkansas Children's

Legal name: Arkansas Children's Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
710568795
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Little Rock, AR, US
Phone
501-364-1100
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$99,223,863
Expenses
$47,454,055
Assets
$631,146,741
Liabilities
$15,697,978

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

Leadership & pay

47 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARCELLA DODERER (AC PRESIDENT & CEO-ACF DIRECTOR)
  • ENID OLVEY (ACF PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARCELLA DODERER (AC PRESIDENT & CEO-ACF DIRECTOR): $2,712,312 total reported compensation
  • FRED SCARBOROUGH (AC EVP/CDO-ACF DIRECTOR): $876,268 total reported compensation
  • ASHLIE HILBUN (FORMER ACF VP-CURRENT AC EVP/CSO/CCO): $633,747 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 champion children's health by providing exceptional patient care, groundbreaking research, continuing education, and outreach and prevention.

What it reported doing in 2024

Arkansas children's foundation is the fundraising arm for Arkansas children's, inc. Which includes Arkansas children's hospital, Arkansas children's research institute, and Arkansas children's northwest. The foundation's primary purpose is raising financial support for those entities, thus enhancing patient care, research, education and prevention.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 85
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.7%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 79.2%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.32 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 52.2%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.3; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.2%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 76.7% of revenue deployed · 79.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 36 of 38 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $37.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.7M · 47 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.2M reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 13 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.