Hearing Health Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131882107
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2122576140
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Birth Defects, Genetic Diseases Research

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,678,817
Expenses
$4,922,908
Assets
$14,344,426
Liabilities
$436,925

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TIMOTHY L HIGDON (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • TIMOTHY L HIGDON (PRESIDENT & CEO): $307,955 total reported compensation
  • YISHANE LEE (DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND): $150,395 total reported compensation
  • GAIL MARINO (FOUNDATION OFFICER): $147,800 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Hearing health foundation's mission is to prevent and cure hearing loss and tinnitus through groundbreaking research.

What it reported doing in 2024

Communication/education - hearing health foundation's "keep listening" campaign is an evergreen initiative to educate all ages about the importance of hearing health and preventing hearing damage, including tinnitus, from the only fully modifiable cause of hearing loss: excess noise. Through engaging broadcast tv public service announcements and concerted social media outreach, the campaign sounds the alarm of listening too loud and too long such as through headphones and at noisy music and recreational venues, and teaches simple lifestyle changes to protect hearing such as using earplugs, taking hearing breaks, and advocating for quieter shared public spaces. In addition to tv and social media, hhf broadly shares educational content and research updates through the website and (see schedule o)blog, print magazine, digital newsletter, and at conferences.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 43% for direct work, and 57% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.6%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 88.5%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

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: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Pass
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: -5.2%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.91; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 18%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.6% of revenue deployed · 88.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $308K · 18 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 28 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 23 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.