Kansas City Southwest Clinical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
440309060
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2020
Forms available
Form 990 2020
Location
Kansas City, MO, USA
Phone
8165233383
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$625,643
Expenses
$500,225
Assets
$319,023
Liabilities
$14,022

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ruth Smerchek (Executive Director)
  • Steve Waxman (President)
  • Thomas Allen (President Elect)
  • Anne Sly (Vice President and Secretary)
  • Joel McKinsey (Immediate Past President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ruth Smerchek (Executive Director): $62,464 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2020. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The purpose of the Kansas City Southwest Clinical Society is to encourage scientific investigation and the application of medical research to medical practice by promoting and participating in the development of continuing medical education conferences for physicians engaged in the practice of medicine. The Society fosters the development of clinical expertise in medicine by encouraging physicians to share knowledge and experience. The Society directly presents and jointly sponsors continuing education activities that are planned and devoted to the reinforcement of core medical knowledge, furthering clinical expertise and personal development.

What it reported doing in 2020

CME Conferences: As a not-for-profit association, the purpose of the Kansas City Southwest Clinical Society is to encourage scientific investigation and the application of medical research to medical practice by promoting and participating in the development of continuing medical education conferences for physicians engaged in the practice of medicine. The Society fosters the development of clinical expertise in medicine by encouraging physicians to share knowledge and experience. The society will both present directly and jointly sponsors continuing education activities that are planned and devoted to the reinforcement of core medical knowledge, furthering clinical expertise and personal development. The Annual Fall Clinical Conference is directly sponsored by the Society. Live, simultaneous symposia with didactic lectures, planned for primary care physicians, review basic concepts and emphasize recent advances in the practice of medicine. Two plenary sessions are offered that are of interest to primary care physicians and specialists. The live, direct-sponsored, Hospital and Critical Care conference is offered for internists, family practitioners, hospitalists and critical care physicians and others interested in critical care. This program uses didactic lectures given by faculty members from different specialties to address critical care issues that may be seen by the target audience. The annual Winter conference, directly sponsored, live activity uses didactic lectures with questions and answer sessions to provide participants, primarily primary care physicians, with current information concerning the diagnosis and management of medical problems encountered in their daily practices. The conference also allows learners to interact in a less formal setting with opportunities to discuss cases, one-on-one with the faculty.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.6%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 83.5%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 20%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.64; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.5%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.6% of revenue deployed · 83.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $418K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $62K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2011 to 2020
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Automatic revocation: this organization had its federal tax-exempt status automatically revoked.