Arkansas Children's

Legal name: Arkansas Children's Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810801296
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Little Rock, AR, US
Phone
501-364-1100
Rating
42
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Nonmonetary Support N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$38,261,981
Expenses
$42,418,466
Assets
$9,707,567
Liabilities
$34,698,727

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

Leadership & pay

37 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARCELLA DODERER (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARCELLA DODERER (PRESIDENT/CEO): $2,712,312 total reported compensation
  • GENA WINGFIELD (EVP/CFO): $1,038,252 total reported compensation
  • JAMIE WIGGINS (EVP/COO): $967,991 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We're focused on improving child health through exceptional patient care, groundbreaking research, continuing education, and outreach and prevention.

What it reported doing in 2024

The corporation is organized, and shall be operated, exclusively for the benefit of, to perform the functions of and to carry out the purposes of Arkansas children's hospital, Arkansas children's northwest inc., Arkansas children's foundation, inc., Arkansas children's research institute, Arkansas children's care network, and other affiliates and thereby to improve and promote the health and welfare of the communities served by the supported organizations and to support and promote scientific and medical research and knowledge for the benefit of the general public, including by: continued on schedule o.a. Serving as the direct or indirect member of the supported organizations; b. Overseeing and coordinating the governance, policy making and strategic planning of the supported organizations; c. Providing administrative and/or other support and services for the benefit of the supported organizations; d. Serving as the direct or indirect member of one or more other nonprofit corporations, and as the direct or indirect shareholder, member or other owner of for-profit business corporations or other entities, that operate in furtherance and support of the section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt purposes of the corporation and the supported organizations; and e. Subject to the limitations set forth herein, engaging in any and all acts or activities, and exercising all such powers, rights and privileges that are incidental to and in furtherance of accomplishing the foregoing purposes.the organization provides long-range planning, management, and support services for its affiliates in furtherance of their missions.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

MIXED - 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 a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 6
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0.1%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0.1%; rating input score 0
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 4th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -10.9%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 3.57; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 31.5%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -42.2% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.1% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 0.1% of revenue deployed · 0.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $22K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.7M · 37 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.4M reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 27 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 23 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 10 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: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.