Childrens Airway First Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
862254672
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
5095935139
Rating
58
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Birth Defects, Genetic Diseases Research

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,029,297
Expenses
$484,270
Assets
$1,121,367
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Candy Sparks (Director and President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Candy Sparks (Director and President): $120,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Generally, to operate exclusively for charitable, scientific, literary, and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Code, by (i) providing and facilitating education and training on children's breathing and airway disorders to medical doctors, dentists, insurers, public health officials, educators, and families, (ii) facilitating and funding research and programs for screening, evaluating and treating children's airway disorders, and (iii) raising global awareness of the silent epidemic of children's airway disorders together with prevention and treatment options.

What it reported doing in 2024

CAFF continued to build and improve its world class web site during the year to serve as a reliable source of information for parents, doctors, dentists, medical professionals, public health officials and educators. Medical papers, books, and recent articles on airway are sourced for easy access. The web site became operational in the late Spring 2021 and is continually being improved upon. Site visits continue to increase and have registered into the thousands. In addition to visitors from the United States, they come from all over the world with heavy traffic from China, India, and the Middle East where airway disorders are prevalent. The site received a major upgrade during the year to support mobile access. During 2024, resources were expended to further develop the source listing of airway centric dentists to which parents could refer should they notice airway issues in their children. Since airway centric dentists are sparse, a listing is necessary when parents seek to find "who to call". Often, pediatricians have not been trained to diagnose breathing issues and also are at a loss of where to refer patients. It is estimated that the listing has already been helpful to many parents seeking help for children with airway issue symptoms. Efforts will continue to make the directory more useful for parents to find pediatric airway specialists.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 30
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.4%; rating input score 47
  • Program expense ratio: 98.4%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 50%; rating input score 50; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 33.3%; rating input score 33; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 53%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.32; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.8%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 80.4% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 52.9% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 58.8% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 47.4% of revenue deployed · 98.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $477K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $120K · 3 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $254K reported
  • Consistency: 43 of 43 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 47/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 33/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.