Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 263091147
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2012
- Location
- Lincoln, NE, USA
- Phone
- 4027305838
- Rating
- 65
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Fund Raising and Fund Distribution
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $584,167
- Expenses
- $552,109
- Assets
- $857,486
- Liabilities
- $31,353
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- W BLAKE COLLINGSWORTH (PRESIDENT & DIR)
People named in this filing
- W BLAKE COLLINGSWORTH (PRESIDENT & DIR)
- KATHLEEN C COLLINGSWORTH (Director)
- KATE STEIER SVENDSEN (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
The main purpose of this foundation is to educate children and parents of the importance of water safety and awareness.
What it reported doing in 2025
The Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation (JCMF) experienced many accomplishments during 2021. An average of 100 Rotary clubs from across the United States (plus several outside of the US) participate in Josh the Otter. In the local Nebraska area of Omaha and Lincoln, Josh the Otter is included as part of the preschool, kindergarten and elementary schools. There are approximately 275,000 children who participate In Josh the Otter through Rotary club efforts. Over 450,000 Josh the Otter books have been distributed over the last (almost) 14 years; averaging 35,000 per year. We expect to distribute approximately 50,000 over this next year as demand increases. 88 Mascot suits are utilized in Josh the Otter programs in US, Canada and Australia.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 90% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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 - The organization raises money at a relatively low cost and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 60
- Transparency & Controls: 72
- Accountability: 58
- Sustainability: 53
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 53.6%; rating input score 54
- Program expense ratio: 56.7%; rating input score 57
- Fundraising efficiency: $912.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 80%; rating input score 80; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 5.5%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.55; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.8% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 53.6% of revenue deployed · 56.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 10 board members independent · 0 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $313K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 28 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 54/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 6 not reported.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 57/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.