Epilepsy Foundation of Northeastern New York Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
141637156
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Albany, NY, USA
Phone
5184567501
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,280,221
Expenses
$1,220,845
Assets
$2,431,576
Liabilities
$325,498

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BETTY DIMARIA (PAST PRESIDENT)
  • NICHOLAS ZARRELLI (PRESIDENT)
  • TIM RONK (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JEANNINE GARAB (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JEANNINE GARAB (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $161,086 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 mission of the epilepsy foundation is to lead the fight to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy and to accelerate therapies to stop seizures, find cures, and save lives.

What it reported doing in 2025

Educational training to assist individuals with seizure disorders so they may lead active and fulfilling lives; educate the community; help families cope with a relative's seizure.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The program-spending lines do not add up, so the filing cannot show reliably whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.4%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 76.3%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.6%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.99; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.2%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.4% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.4% of revenue deployed · 76.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $932K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $161K · 22 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 22/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.