International Children's Heart Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621570622
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2017
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2017
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
(615) 250-2799
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$746,786
Expenses
$726,120
Assets
$54,555
Liabilities
$783,985

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRET RODRIGUEZ (PRESIDENT)
  • RODRIGO SOTO (CEO, CLINICAL OPERATIONS)

Highest reported compensation

  • RODRIGO SOTO (CEO, CLINICAL OPERATIONS): $126,500 total reported compensation
  • RANDA BLENDEN (CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFIC): $80,501 total reported compensation
  • BRET RODRIGUEZ (PRESIDENT): $39,141 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To bring hope and healing to children with congenital heart disease in developing countries by providing life-saving surgeries, training local medical teams, and building sustainable cardiac care programs.

What it reported doing in 2017

We completed multiple international volunteer medical missions performing lifesaving heart surgeries on children in under-resourced countries who were born with congenital heart disease. To accomplish this, we had approximately 120 medical volunteers offer their talents and expertise without compensation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 45
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.5%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 78.6%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.5 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.8%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.08; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 14.37; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 33.9%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -54.2% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -24.1% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -22.2% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 76.5% of revenue deployed · 78.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $571K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $126K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2009 to 2017
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.