Children's National Hospital Foundation

Legal name: Children's Hospital Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521640402
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2024764888
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$117,997,955
Expenses
$82,207,573
Assets
$980,182,772
Liabilities
$2,514,912

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHELLE RILEY-BROWN (PRESIDENT/CEO (CNMC))
  • DEANN MARSHALL (PRESIDENT OF FOUNDATION)
  • KURT D NEWMAN MD (FORMER PRESIDENT/CEO (CNMC))

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHELLE RILEY-BROWN (PRESIDENT/CEO (CNMC)): $2,644,720 total reported compensation
  • ALDWIN LINDSAY (EVP/CFO): $1,383,941 total reported compensation
  • MARY ANNE HILLIARD (BOARD SECRETARY): $1,263,836 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Children's National Hospital Foundation works with generous donors to advance the hospital’s mission, funding world-class care and research for kids in the Washington, D.C. region and beyond. Your donation to our non-profit institution makes it possible for us to provide exceptional, compassionate care for children. This vital support enables kids to be healthy and fulfill their potential. Generous philanthropy also advances our work to find new treatments and cures. Medical developments for children continue to lag significantly behind advancements for adults. We’re closing this gap, through research and innovation, and the development of devices and therapies specific to kids’ growing bodies. Your gift provides hope, healing and brighter futures.

What it reported doing in 2024

See schedule oprogram service accomplishment 1children's national hospital foundation raises private, corporate and institutional financial support to ensure that patients and their families receive world-class, compassionate pediatric care. Donor gifts received by the foundation are reflected as revenue in the applicable supported entity's budget. As the supported entity incurs costs for research, care and education, donated funds are released into revenue and the expenses are reflected at the supported entity. This represents a movement of gift funds to the supported entity in accordance with the donor's designation and the supported entity's mission to advance pediatric care. With healthcare expertise and experience designed around kids' unique needs, children's national is the premier provider of pediatric services in the Washington, d.c., metropolitan area and the region's only health system specializing in care specifically for children. Last year, children's national hospital cared for more than 240,000 unique patients from the nation's capital, Maryland, and Virginia, across the u.s. And around the world. We offer access to top pediatric specialists, surgeons, and mental health professionals; we innovate, discover, and drive new technologies and therapies to treat and cure children; and we educate communities, patients, and their families on pediatric health issues.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 87
  • Sustainability: 90
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.3%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 69.4%; rating input score 69
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 45th 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 30.3%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.92; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.2%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 68.3% of revenue deployed · 69.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 17 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $57M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.6M · 32 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 21 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.