Invisible Wounds Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
874071937
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7134442874
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$572,168
Expenses
$493,360
Assets
$135,955
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Shannon Connell (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Dr James Kelly (Chief Medical Scientist): $60,000 total reported compensation
  • Shannon Connell (CEO): $50,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Invisible Wounds Foundation exists to understand the underlying cause of blast-related brain injuries suffered by our nations warriors and veterans in training and in combat. We identify evaluate and fund critical and innovative research undertaken by defense and governmental health agencies and other research institutions.

What it reported doing in 2025

The foundation launched the Military Brain Health Collaborative bringing together the stakeholders required to pursue the foundations mission which is to understand the underlying cause of blast-related brain injuries suffered by our nations warriors and veterans in training and in combat. We identify evaluate and fund critical and innovative research undertaken by defense and governmental health agencies and other research institutions.

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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 43.6%; rating input score 44
  • Program expense ratio: 50.5%; rating input score 51
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.18 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 22nd 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: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.8%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.28; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.3%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 22.7% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 43.6% of revenue deployed · 50.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $249K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 43 of 43 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 44/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.