Extracorporeal Life Support Organization

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463994587
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Phone
7349986601
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Nonmonetary Support N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,372,240
Expenses
$5,903,560
Assets
$8,867,103
Liabilities
$2,271,027

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Daniel Brodie (President)
  • Christine Stead (CEO)
  • Peter Rycus (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Christine Stead (CEO): $348,880 total reported compensation
  • Peter Rycus (Executive Director): $282,186 total reported compensation
  • Alex Fox (Senior Project Manager): $128,670 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See Schedule O

What it reported doing in 2025

ELSO is committed to providing high quality education and training for the entire ECLS practitioners physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and perfusionists. ELSO offers several education programs: a virtual program for providing didactic foundational knowledge for the adult and neo/peds patient populations. This is available globally with discounts available based on the resource ranking of the country of practice, as referenced to the World Bank Organization. In-person hands-on training is offered in two course options: simulation training and cannulation training. Simulation training is offered in a means that meets ELSO's Step 2 criteria for our individual certification program both in the adult and neo/peds populations. Cannulation training is for practitioners that will be providing this type of care related to ECMO in the clinical care setting. We provide in-person training for trainers to expand those running these courses throughout the world. ELSO endorses courses that meet our Step 1 and/or Step 2 criteria after careful evaluation of the program. Endorsed course certification is for three years, upon which term recertification can be available.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 97% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.1%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 89.8%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 7.4%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.5; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.9%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.1% of revenue deployed · 89.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $5.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $349K · 12 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.2M reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.