Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521904610
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Arlington, VA, USA
Phone
7038884440
Rating confidence
Limited

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,580,665
Expenses
$1,504,710
Assets
$179,452
Liabilities
$1,552,530

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRISTOPHER GANDY (PRESIDENT-ELECT)
  • DOUGLAS MASSEY (PRESIDENT)
  • TOM COTHRON (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
  • KEVIN MAYEUX (CEO)
  • BRIAN STEINER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • KEVIN MAYEUX (CEO): $546,522 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL GERBER (COO): $344,874 total reported compensation
  • BRIAN STEINER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $259,115 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Life happens is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping consumers take personal financial responsibility through the ownership of life insurance and related products. The organization does not endorse any product, company, or insurance advisor. Since its inception in 1994, life happens has provided the highest quality, independent and objective information for people seeking help with their insurance buying decisions. The organization is on the leading edge of technology innovation to support the insurance industry by providing marketing and social-media tools and resources through its proprietary life happens pro digital platform. In addition, it convenes the industry each september for life insurance awareness month, which it created in 2004. Life happens is supported by more than 140 of the nation's leading insurance company and financial services organizations. To learn more, visit www.lifehappens.org.

What it reported doing in 2025

The foundation's advertising outreach is an effort to educate consumers and energize the field. We advertise on consumer websites with digital advertisements featuring stories from the awareness month campaign, real life stories or life lessons programs. These ads appeared on the following websites: hulu, youtube, aol, and many other online sites and social media platforms.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 80% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 69
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 27
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.8%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.12; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 8.65; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.2%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: -8.6% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -8.3% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $547K · 10 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.