Children's Orthopaedic Surgery Foundatio

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042943146
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6173552460
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$93,476,479
Expenses
$101,111,212
Assets
$129,380,424
Liabilities
$47,635,631

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

Leadership & pay

43 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Martha M Murray MD (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mininder S Kocher MD (Director): $2,676,100 total reported compensation
  • Eduardo N Novais MD (Physician): $2,037,638 total reported compensation
  • Benjamin J Shore MD (Director): $1,904,662 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 Foundation provides orthopaedic surgery services to patients at Boston Children's Hospital and at satellite locations. The mission strives to provide care for patients with a wide range of developmental, congenital, neuromuscular, and post (see Schedule O) traumatic problems of the musculoskeletal system. The Foundation also provides care for patients in need of orthopaedic services, regardless of their ability to pay.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Foundation provides orthopaedic surgery services primarily to patients at Boston Children's Hospital and at satellite locations. The Foundation may charge for patient care and other medical services, provided that any net income is used exclusively for the charitable, scientific, and educational purposes for which the Foundation was created. The Foundation also provides care for patients in need of orthopaedic services regardless of their ability to pay, as well as providing hospital and community based services that are limited in the community. During the year ended September 30, 2025, the Foundation performed 100,467 ambulatory visits and 6,193 surgical cases. The Foundation provided $629,563 in free care services, had expenditures of $7,943,020 for research efforts, and provided funding (see Schedule O) of $4,332,556 for teaching or educational initiatives for the year ended September 30, 2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 94% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 42
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 96.3%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th 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: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.3%; rating input score 99; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 4th 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: -8.2%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.28; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.37; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 43%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 96.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 33 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $97.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $2.7M · 43 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $4M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 44 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.