Inspire Brands Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
581692997
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Atlanta, GA, USA
Phone
6785144100
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,984,452
Expenses
$16,926,907
Assets
$14,349,733
Liabilities
$1,691,363

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Stuart Brown (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Stuart Brown (Executive Director): $305,639 total reported compensation
  • Ryan Van Sickle (Sr. Director of Operations): $192,494 total reported compensation
  • Emily Crawford (Director of Impact): $189,821 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

At the inspire brands foundation, we exist to ignite and nourish change for good through strategic national and community partnerships. As a foundation, we focus on three core pillars - childhood hunger, youth leadership and career readiness. We do business as the arbys foundation, buffalo wild wings foundation, sonic foundation and the jimmy john's foundation. The arbys foundation believes that every kid deserves to dream big and pursue their dreams with confidence. The buffalo wild wings foundation fuels the champions of the next generation. The sonic foundation sparks brighter futures for america's youth. The jimmy johns foundation empowers the next generation to dream boldly and thrive.

What it reported doing in 2024

Boys & girls clubs of america (bgca): we contribute funds to support bgca, an organization that enables all young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Our funding supports youth sports programs that build character and promote a healthy lifestyle, aligning with our mission to build communities where all kids can thrive, compete, and belong to a team.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 92% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 73
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 88.4%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 80.2%; rating input score 80; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 53.3%; rating input score 53; 9th 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: -13%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.85; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 88.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $15M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $306K · 20 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 324 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 307 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.