Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America Foundatio

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
208381275
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2011
Location
Atherton, CA, USA
Phone
6267964903
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Medical Research N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$216,006
Expenses
$151,364
Assets
$288,080
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CINZIA ZUFFADA (President)
  • ENRICA D'ETTORE (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • MARCELLO ROMANO (Director)
  • CINZIA ZUFFADA (President)
  • ELISA BERTINO (Director)

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

To promote scientific, academic and technologic cooperation among italian researchers active in north america and italy. This is done through the funding of fellowships and internships, advocacy, networking and running web based activities.

What it reported doing in 2025

Post doctoral fellowships program in molecular biology for italian researchers from the marche region of italy, hosted by prestigous universities and research centers in the united states.summer internships for young italian engineers. Organized and funded internships for young italian engineers, selected among 800 applicants to work in prestigous united states universities.networking program. Supported and organized an annual meeting , conducted seminars and maintained a website to connect italian scientists in italy and north america so knowledge and opportunities could be shared.politenico de milano program to support the creation of fellowships and post doc programs from candidates abroad.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% 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 - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.9%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 97.8%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: $116.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 15th 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: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 29.9%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.9; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -19% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -6.7% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.9% of revenue deployed · 97.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $148K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 12 of 13 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.