Dream On 3

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461988039
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Charlotte, NC, USA
Phone
7047076803
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Health, General and Financing

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,047,861
Expenses
$3,187,170
Assets
$942,195
Liabilities
$519,878

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ben Allred (CEO)
  • Brandon Lindsey (President)
  • Steve OBrien MD (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ben Allred (CEO): $131,000 total reported compensation
  • Elizabeth Lindsey (Executive Dir.): $90,302 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To make dreams come true for children with chronic illness, development disabilities, or life-altering conditions by creating experiences of joy and magic through the world of sports.

What it reported doing in 2024

Collegiate Dream Teams - Groups of student leaders that are passionate about helping others in their community work alongside Dream On 3 to plan, market, fundraise, and ultimately fulfill the Dream Experience of an individual living with a life-altering medical condition. Teams consist of 15-20 students from each college. CDT members gain a wealth of real-world career and hands-on experience such as leadership development, team building, and community engagement all while helping someone in their community. The program develops work-related skills such as marketing, branding, public relations, social media, fundraising, donor relations, non-profit management, event planning, and more. We have worked with hundreds of students that have served on 47 CDT teams across various college campuses.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.1%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 66.3%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th 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; 63rd 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.6%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.3; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.9%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 24.1% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.6% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.1% of revenue deployed · 66.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $2.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $131K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.