International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
134177240
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Wheaton, IL, USA
Phone
6306811040
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,437,605
Expenses
$1,387,596
Assets
$604,066
Liabilities
$248,491

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALEX VACCARO MD (PRESIDENT, USA)
  • OSCAR L ALVES MD (PRESIDENT - INTERNATIONAL)
  • ROLANDO GARCIA MD (PRESIDENT - ELECT USA)
  • SEOK-WOO KIM MD (PRESIDENT-ELECT INTL)
  • ALI ARAGHI DO (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT USA)
  • AVELINO PARAJON MD (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT - INTL)

People named in this filing

  • ALEX VACCARO MD (PRESIDENT, USA)
  • OSCAR L ALVES MD (PRESIDENT - INTERNATIONAL)
  • ROLANDO GARCIA MD (PRESIDENT - ELECT USA)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The organization serves as a scientific, and educational society that provides a forum for discussion and understanding of all aspects of basic and clinical science and other fundamental topics to restore and improve motion and function of the spine.

What it reported doing in 2025

Advocacy: isass holds a seat on the ama house of delegates to represent the interests of spine surgery including fair pricing structures for the industry and coverage decisions from critical advisory organizations and health insurance providers which are critical to patient care. Isass has published numerous coverage recommendations which have positively affected coverage of spinal procedures.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 90% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.9%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 98.3%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 81.8%; rating input score 82; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.5%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.44; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.41; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4.4% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 94.9% of revenue deployed · 98.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 13 of 15 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.