Gift of Life International

What it reported doing in 2024

The concept of a 'mission' has taken on new meaning to gift of life international ("goli"). As we have evolved, the need to send expert teams of healthcare professionals to the countries we work with has become greater. There are now three distinct types of 'missions' which goli sponsors and coordinates.diagnostic screening missionthis type of 'mission' is designed to identify children from a specific country that are in need of treatment for their heart disease. We have found that it is cost-effective to send a well-trained team consisting of a pediatric cardiologist, echo technician and nurse to an affiliated hospital in a partner country for one week to screen 100 children. The children that are identified as in need of treatment will then be treated throughout the global network of gift of life international. We regularly have conducted such 'missions' to the dominican republic, belize, el salvador, uganda, kosova, and haiti.medical missionsmedical 'missions' have become an essential method for goli to help provide care to children who will not have any other chance at a healthy life. We are now sending teams of professional healthcare providers to the philippines and haiti so that children on waiting lists in those countries will be treated in a systematic and strategic fashion. Our goal is to provide care to as many children as possible on these medical missions.training visitstraining visits have become essential aspects of our global initiative, 'our hearts are in...' through these training visits, we provide expert skills to the local teams in el salvador, uganda, bolivia, and jamaica. Such visits are essential in our goal of empowering the doctors and nurses to care for their own children. The traditional training visit team will consist of a pediatric cardiac surgeon, anesthesiologist, perfusionist, two intensive care doctors, a respiratory therapist, 5 pediatric cardiac intensive care unit nurses, and a pediatric cardiologist. Each team member will help with patient care while working to transfer their knowledge and skills to the members of the in country team.over the past 5 years, we have worked to create regional centers of excellence in uganda, el salvador, bolivia, honduras, jordan, and jamaica. In selecting these countries, we applied the following criteria: (1) supportive and invested government, (2) motivated and involved hospital administration, (3) established pediatric cardiac surgery program, and (4)existing in-country non-governmental organization to support the program.the care we provide our children and their families goes beyond the walls of the hospital. We have developed innovative nutritional, vocational, and family support programs that continue our involvement in the recovery of the children for months and years following their surgeries.in 2024, the gift of life international network of caring continue to experience exponential growth. For the second year in a row, we helped over 5,000 children. Our legacy programs in el salvador and uganda each helped over 200 children - the most for each of them. Gift of life international legacy programs are ones which are sustainably provide care to children on a reliable basis. Our core programs in jordan, bolivia, honduras and jamaica are in various stages of development - each showing improvement. Bolivia and jordan appear to be the most advanced in conducting surgeries on their own. Each program is at least another year or two away from legacy status. Donations from like-minded organizations such as herz bewegt, heartgift and chain of hope remain significant and reliable. Our training teams continue to impact programs in the dominican republic, guyana, uganda, el salvador, bolivia, romania, jamaica, honduras and zimbabwe our work in uganda has made great inroads in dealing with the rheumatic heart disease crisis in that country. We are now treating 3,500 children a year to help them deal with their rhd.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 73.8%; rating input score 74
• Program expense ratio: 87.6%; rating input score 88
• Fundraising efficiency: $14.01 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 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: 16.1%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.71; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 6%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 16.3% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 15.4% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 21.7% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings