Horses and Humans Research Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810650878
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021
Location
Chagrin Falls, OH, USA
Phone
9102802664
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Reported finances

Revenue
$711,252
Expenses
$436,719
Assets
$1,305,523
Liabilities
$315,488

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN KUNDTZ (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • PEBBLES TURBEVILLE (EXECUTIVE DI): $116,201 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Through funding of rigorous research, outreach and education, horses and humans research foundation is a catalyst advancing global knowledge of horse-human interactions and their impact on health and wellness.

What it reported doing in 2025

In 2025, we continued to educate and inform people through hhrf's conference, digital platforms, newsletters, website, webinars, regional and national conferences hosted by other organizations. We also attended several international conferences to share research and engage with the global community. Despite issuing two research grant calls, hhrf awarded one grant of 150,000 in the field of equine-assisted services

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 58% for direct work, and 42% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 53%; rating input score 53
  • Program expense ratio: 82.2%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $24.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

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; 78th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 38.6%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.99; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.6%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 53% of revenue deployed · 82.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $359K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $116K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 53/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.