Foundation for Research

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
880234196
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Carson City, NV, USA
Phone
7753293111
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,556,157
Expenses
$7,047,376
Assets
$160,440,997
Liabilities
$139,353

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Robert M Wallace (Trustee, President)
  • Jarred W Sloan (Trustee, Vice President, Treasurer)
  • John Russell Beekman (Vice President)
  • Christopher MacKenzie (Vice President, Secretary)

Highest reported compensation

  • Robert M Wallace (Trustee, President): $785,428 total reported compensation
  • Jarred W Sloan (Trustee, Vice President, Treasurer): $785,428 total reported compensation
  • Lynn P Carter (Trustee): $785,428 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

As a supporting organization to the Clayton Foundation for Research ("Clayton"), the organization's primary mission is to fund medical research for the purpose of discovering the cause, prevention and cure of diseases for the benefit of mankind. The secondary mission is to transfer the resulting medical research discoveries from the laboratory to the use of the general public by patenting and licensing such technology for development into drugs or other products for the use and benefit of mankind through Clayton's other supporting entities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Research Development Foundation ("RDF") is another supporting organization to the Clayton Foundation for Research("Clayton"). The organization grants funds to RDF for its general support. RDF uses such funds in carrying out the secondary mission of Clayton (i.e., to advance medical and scientific research through the transfer of technology from the laboratory to public use by obtaining patents and licenses and administering patents arising out of discoveries made pursuant to research conducted or sponsored by Clayton and its supporting organizations). RDF's current portfolio contains approximately 200 patent applications and issued patents on discoveries that have been made in the course of the various research projects that have been conducted by Clayton or funded by the organization and another supporting entity of Clayton over the years. RDF has entered into numerous licenses of such discoveries to pharmaceutical and startup companies, and many of such discoveries have already led to products that have been brought to market by the licensee and are benefiting mankind.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 92% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 42
  • Sustainability: 49
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 88.4%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 3rd 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: -7.5%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 22.77; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.7%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 33.3% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.7% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 88.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $6.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $785K · 8 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 9 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.