Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
311356151
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Dublin, OH, USA
Phone
614-350-4515
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$61,621,473
Expenses
$52,860,914
Assets
$117,306,202
Liabilities
$7,820,134

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

Leadership & pay

35 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RITA L SORONEN (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • RITA L SORONEN (PRESIDENT & CEO): $505,827 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER JUSTICE (SVP, STRATEGIC PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT): $265,534 total reported compensation
  • JILL CRUMBACHER (SVP, MARKETING & DEVELOPMENT): $262,832 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Through evidence-based, results-driven national service programs, foster care adoption awareness campaigns and innovative grantmaking, we work to ensure every child has a safe, permanent family.

What it reported doing in 2024

Adoption awareness & advocacy: the foundation is committed to nationally communicating the urgency of foster care adoption and to encouraging everyone to become an ambassador for waiting children. Year-round awareness efforts include daily social media communications; marketing programs dispelling myths and misperceptions surrounding the issue of foster care adoption and the children waiting to be adopted; the development and distribution of free educational resources; the production of national television announcements; see schedule o for additional narrative on program grants & awareness.media engagement and thought leader speaking and keynote opportunities; and participation in a number of events across the united states. Additionally, since 2002, the foundation has commissioned several groundbreaking studies to measure americans' perceptions of foster care adoption.in addition to funding wendy's wonderful kids grants, resources generated by the foundation help to award strategic national grants to adoption agencies and organizations that share the foundation's mission. These grants provide critical foster care adoption services and support, promote best practices in foster care adoption, and assist with educational materials and strategies for parents and child welfare professionals.organizations were funded under the national grants program, including the alliance for children's rights, american bar association fund for justice and education, congressional coalition on adoption institute, center for the rights of abused children, child welfare league of america, justchoice, family to family support network, fostering change for children, fostering media connections, generations untied, kent state university foundation, national adoption association, national council for adoption, second nurture, think of us, treehouse foundation, university of Connecticut, and voice for adoption.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 71% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 72% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.4%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 83%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.7%; rating input score 96; 49th 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: 14.2%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.22; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.9%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 79.4% of revenue deployed · 83% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 23 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $43.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $506K · 35 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.3M reported
  • Consistency: 45 of 45 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 146 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 135 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 8 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.