Chris Klug Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
841628444
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Aspen, CO, USA
Phone
9702742821
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$500,636
Expenses
$481,340
Assets
$547,142
Liabilities
$38,458

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTOPHER KLUG (PRESIDENT)
  • JESSI ROCHEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JESSI ROCHEL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $110,742 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The chris klug foundation promotes lifesaving organ, eye and tissue donation and works to improve the quality of life for those touched by transplantation. The foundation uses the stories of organ donors, transplant candidates and transplant recipients to inspire, alongside ...events, school courses, and webinars to educate; all with the end goal of encouraging individuals to give the gift of life and register as organ donors.

What it reported doing in 2025

The chris klug foundation furthered its ckf ambassador program, recruiting organ, eye, and tissue transplant recipients as volunteer advocates; distributed 'toolkits for teachers' curriculums with an online video and interactive educational toolkit for use with middle school, high school, and college-aged students to educate them on organ donation and registration; promoted its 'donor dudes' program at high schools and colleges to help educate and raise awareness about the importance of organ donation; and continued its social media platform, reaching over 1 million people, to educate about the importance of organ donation. The foundation also raised awareness about organ, eye, and tissue donation through charity partnerships and participation in high-profile race events.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 87% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 84.7%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 3.9%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.14; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82% of revenue deployed · 84.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $407K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $111K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.