Freedom to Operate Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
850498384
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Greenwich, CT, USA
Phone
2035547725
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$13,014
Expenses
$15,911
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

1 person listed

People named in this filing

  • Carey Turnbull (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To advance science and education and, specifically, to support and facilitate medical and scientific research in the public interest for the public benefit, primarily by challenging certain patent rights which are improperly claimed and which inappropriately prevent others from engaging in research and innovation in the public interest.

What it reported doing in 2023

FTO promotes medical and scientific research by searching patent literature for issued or pending patents to identify those which are overbroad or potentially invalid or which may interfere with access to publicly known and available medicinal products. FTO may then take action to raise public awareness of identified problems with these patents and patent applications, through petitioning relevant Patent Offices, providing information to journalists, and providing information to individuals and organizations that are interested in research and development of the known and available medicinal products. These actions allow research organizations to more efficiently achieve their goals, to expedite scientific advancement, and to avoid wasteful expenditures.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 51
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 49.9%; rating input score 50
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -22.3%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -30.2% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -28.4% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -93.5% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61% of revenue deployed · 49.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 1 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 1 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.