Brain Trauma Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133764444
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021
Location
Palo Alto, CA, USA
Phone
4083699735
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Biological & Life Sciences

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,161,568
Expenses
$597,938
Assets
$937,768
Liabilities
$2,616

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMSHID GHAJAR MD PHD (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAMSHID GHAJAR MD PHD (PRESIDENT): $58,490 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The brain trauma foundation (btf) is the world's leader in evidence-based guidelines for traumatic brain injuries (tbi) producing a 50% decrease in deaths when btf guidelines are implemented in trauma centers.

What it reported doing in 2024

Btf has partnered with the military tbi initative center at usuhs funded by department of defense. Contract deliverables are tbi guidelines for military and civilian sectors. Year 2023-2024 produced management guidelines for severe tbi in austere/combat environments. Year 2024-2025 are guidelines for a rapid readiness screen. Btf also has a clinical phase one safety trial of early lumbar csf drainage to abort severe tbi intracranial hypertension (elastic) in five us trauma centers. See schedule o for publications.publications: hawryluk gwj, selph s, lumba-brown a, totten am, ghajar j, aarabi b, ecklund j, shackelford s, adams b, adelson d, armonda ra, benjamin j, boone d, brody d, dengler b, figaji a, grant g, harris o, hoffer a, kitigawa r, latham k, neal c, okonkwo do, pannell d, rosenfeld jv, rosenthal g, rubiano a, stein dm, stippler m, talbot m, valadka a, wright dw, davis s, bell r. Rationale and methods for updated guidelines for the management of penetrating traumatic brain injury. Neurotrauma rep. 2022 jun 21;3(1):240-247masaru teramoto, eliza banchoff grover, jordan cornwell, rachel zhang, marie boo, jamshid ghajar, angela lumba-brown, sex differences in common measures of concussion in college athletes. J head trauma rehabil 2022 jul-aug 01;37(4)hawryluk gwj, ghajar j. In reply: evolution and impact of the brain trauma foundation guidelines. Neurosurgery. 2022 aug 15dr. Buse sarigul, dr. Randy s bell, dr. Randall m. Chesnut, dr. Sergio aguilera, dr. Andras buki, prof. Giuseppe citerio, dr. D. James cooper, dr. Ramon r. Diaz-arrastia, dr. Michael diringer, prof. Anthony figaji, dr. Guoyi gao, dr. Romer geocadin, dr. Jamshid ghajar, et al. Prognostication and withdrawal of care decisions in severe traumatic brain injury: a survey of the seattle international severe traumatic brain injury consensus conference (sibicc) working group. J. Neurotrauma. 18 mar 2023.chesnut rm, aguilera s, buki a, bulger em, citerio g, cooper dj, arrastia rd, diringer m, figaji a, gao g, geocadin rg, ghajar j, harris o, hawryluk gwj et al. Perceived utility of intracranial pressure monitoring in traumatic brain injury: a seattle international brain injury consensus conference consensus-based analysis and recommendations. Neurosurgery. 2023 aug 1;93(2):399-408.sarigul b, bell rs, chesnut r, aguilera s, buki a, citerio g, cooper dj, diaz-arrastia r, diringer m, figaji a, gao g, geocadin rg, ghajar j, hawryluk gwj et ala. Prognostication and goals of care decisions in severe traumatic brain injury: a survey of the seattle international severe traumatic brain injury consensus conference working group. J neurotrauma. 2023 aug;40(15-16):1707-1717.lulla a, lumba-brown a, totten am, maher pj, badjatia n, bell r, donayri ctj, fallat me, hawryluk gwj, goldberg sa, hennes hma, ignell sp, ghajar j, krzyzaniak bp, lerner eb, nishijima d, schleien c, shackelford s, swartz e, wright dw, zhang r, jagoda a, bobrow bj. Prehospital guidelines for the management of traumatic brain injury - 3rd edition. Prehosp emerg care. 2023;27(5):507-538.hawryluk gwj, lulla a, bell r, jagoda a, mangat hs, bobrow bj, ghajar j. Guidelines for prehospital management of traumatic brain injury 3rd edition: executive summary. Neurosurgery. 2023 sep 26.spielman ls, maruta j, ghajar j, dual statistical models link baseline visual attention measure to risk for significant symptomatic concussion in sports. Concussion. 16th january 2024

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 85% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 73
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 45.6%; rating input score 46
  • Program expense ratio: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 76th 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 48.5%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.57; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.8%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -21.2% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -24.6% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -25.5% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 45.6% of revenue deployed · 87.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $525K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $58K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 46/100.
  • 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.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.