Cornell Research Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
166050703
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Ithaca, NY, USA
Phone
6072544698
Rating confidence
Limited
Sector
University or Technological Institute

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$0
Expenses
$0
Assets
$454,927
Liabilities
$33,781,216

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN E ALEXANDER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • BRIAN KELLY (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • XIANG LI (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRIAN KELLY (VICE PRESIDENT): $366,278 total reported compensation
  • XIANG LI (PRESIDENT): $349,602 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 organization's mission is to foster inventiveness at cornell, protect cornell's intellectual property interests and manage those interests for the benefit of cornell, its inventors and the public.

What it reported doing in 2024

Cornell research foundation (crf) holds patents on technical processes developed by cornell university's faculty and staff. Income from holding the property inures to the benefit of cornell, a section 501(c)(3) research university.

Operating model

Revenue model
No positive adjusted resources. The filing reports no positive adjusted operating resources.
Distribution model
No current program activity. The filing reports no program spending for the current year.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 53
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 0
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 6th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: Limited
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: Limited
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 74.26; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -35% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -23.5% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $366K · 6 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 11 of 12 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Series filing activity did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.