Lion Global Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 680561084
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2017–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2022
- Location
- Greenwood Village, CO, USA
- Phone
- 3037495100
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Museum, Museum Activities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,880,684
- Expenses
- $5,396,217
- Assets
- $31,967,483
- Liabilities
- $1,465,075
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- COURTNEY MIZEL (VICE PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR)
- MELANIE PEARLMAN (PRESIDENT/CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- MELANIE PEARLMAN (PRESIDENT/CEO): $342,212 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Lion global foundation is organized and operated exclusively for charitable (including without limitation, civic and cultural), religious, scientific and educational purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code. Mizel institute's mission is to develop a more educated, conscientious and empowered community. It achieves its mission through dynamic cultural and educational programming at the mizel museum and the counterterrorism education learning lab.
What it reported doing in 2024
Cultural and educational tours, programs, and special events - serving youth through seniors. Estimated number of users 100,000 annually.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 77
- Transparency & Controls: 72
- Accountability: 75
- Sustainability: 45
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 84.8%; rating input score 85
- Program expense ratio: 74%; rating input score 74
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 77.1%; rating input score 77; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -10.6%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.92; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 84.8% of revenue deployed · 74% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $342K · 17 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
- Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 4 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.