BRF
Legal name: Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 581711612
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Shreveport, LA, US
- Phone
- 3187164108
- Rating
- 74
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Biomedicine, Bioengineering Research
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $25,307,433
- Expenses
- $20,561,945
- Assets
- $120,399,212
- Liabilities
- $11,115,490
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
26 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOHN GEORGE (CEO/PRESIDENT)
- DAVID SMITH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
- DAVID SCHMIDT (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- JOHN GEORGE (CEO/PRESIDENT): $814,733 total reported compensation
- JAMES DEAN (EXECUTIVE VP AND COO): $581,424 total reported compensation
- DAVID SMITH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $322,170 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Diversify and grow our region’s economy.
What it reported doing in 2024
Edventures supports stem (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education and technology-based workforce development initiatives through a variety of programs serving student sin northwest Louisiana. Programs include the bobbie cates hicks science and medicine academic research training program, biotech magnet academy, biostart senior research laboratory internships, college navigator, and first robotics programs. Edventures works with multiple regional partners including caddo parish schools, bossier parish schools, desoto parish schools, and lsu health sciences center in shreveport to provide these programs. Expenses: $ (including grants to others of $--), revenue: $ shreveport next proactively recruits small to mid-sized businesses to relocate to or build facilities in northwest Louisiana, promoting our region's access, affordability, and opportunity for businesses to create well-paying, sustainable jobs for our community. Expenses: $366,855 (including grants to others of $--), revenue: $the digital media institute (dmi) is an accredited higher educational institution focused on degree and certificate programs in the digital arts. Dmi offers programs in animation and digital effects, interactive software development, and advertising design. Students at dmi come from a wide range of backgrounds and financial needs. Dmi provides and coordinates with grant making organizations to fund some need based scholarships to students who meet admissions requirements but may need additional financial assistance. Dmi also provides summer camp opportunities to students in middle school and high school to promote knowledge and interest in the digital art space.expenses: $953,437 (including grants to others of $31,976), revenue: $ 198,916center for molecular imaging and therapy division provides clinical, technical, and research personnel to a related organization which provides molecular imaging services to the northwest Louisiana community. The board of managers for collaboration link, llc is comprised of two members appointed by brf. Brf is the sole approver of collaboration link's budget.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 83% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 65
- Transparency & Controls: 91
- Accountability: 87
- Sustainability: 73
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 69.9%; rating input score 70
- Program expense ratio: 76.3%; rating input score 76
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 18.8%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.86; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 16.5%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -26.8% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -25.7% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -14.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 69.9% of revenue deployed · 76.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $15.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $815K · 26 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.7M reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 16 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.
- 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 11/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.