Friends of 440 Scholarship Fund Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

The purpose of the organization is to provide educational scholarships for financially needy dependents of workers who have been injured in the course of their employment and as a result have received workers' compensation benefits under Florida law and who reside, or whose work-related injuries occurred in Florida. In addition, such scholarships may also be provided to financially needy dependents of individuals primarily engaged in the operation or administration of Florida's workers' compensation laws. The scholarships will be awarded to eligible individuals who lack the economic ability to continue education beyond high school or to further their college education without great financial hardship and who best embody the following characteristics: (i) good character and citizenship, (ii) the academic ability to complete the individual's contemplated program of education, and, (iii)extracurricular activities, etc. In order to ensure that no part of the net earnings of the organization will inure to the benefit of any private individual, individuals related by blood or marriage to any member of the board of trustees of friends or the board of directors of the organization will not be eligible to receive scholarships from the organization. Scholarship application forms and procedures: the organization has prescribed a scholarship application form. The organization anticipates receiving all scholarship requests by february 28 preceding the academic year for which the scholarship is to be awarded. In selecting scholarship recipients, the organization may require a personal interview and whatever additional information that the organization's board of directors deems helpful to its decision. The scholarships will be awarded not later than june 15th, preceding the academic year for which the scholarships are to be awarded. These deadlines may be extended or modified if necessary. Scholarship amounts and uses the scholarships will be awarded to finance the tuition, fees, books, and living expenses of a course of study not to exceed 6,000.00 per individual, per academic year. The amount awarded to an individual will be an amount sufficient to defer the entire cost of tuition, books, fees, and reasonable living expenses of the recipient, but will not exceed the maximum amount of scholarship allowable. The scholarships will be gifts and not loans. The scholarship funds can be applied only to a full or part-time course of study at an educational or vocational training institution approved by the organization after investigation of the academic standards and courses of study offered by such institution. The funds will be paid directly to the institution for the cost of the tuition and fees and, if applicable, room and board. The individual will also be reimbursed for books if invoiced by the institution to the scholarship fund. Under no circumstances will payment for the cost of tuition, fees, books, and living expenses exceed the maximum scholarship amount for any academic year. Monitoring of scholarships since the scholarship is generally to be awarded annually, individuals will have to reapply for each academic year for which a scholarship is needed and will be required to furnish all information requested by the organization with respect to the individual's performance in accordance with the terms of the scholarship. Primary consideration will be given to a former recipient's application so that the former recipient, if still evidencing insufficiency of funds to pursue higher education without finanacial assistance, will be able to complete the selected course of study. The organization's board of directors in its discretion may award full or partial scholarships, may increase or decrease the maximum scholarship amount for one or more recipients, and may award one or more multi-year scholarships to enable the applicant to complete the entire course of study without reapplying. The academic progress of each individual will be monitor

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 83.2%; rating input score 83
• 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Limited
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 6.7%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.12; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -4.2% per year; rating input score 0; 40th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -11.7% per year; rating input score 0; 29th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -3.9% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings