Marilynn Smith and Founders Legacy Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
851092355
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phone
6027223605
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$89,846
Expenses
$115,312
Assets
$160,885
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Jane Spicer (Director)
  • Kore Grate (Director)
  • Emily Ralph (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

Today GOLF IT FORWARD is the public face of the Marilynn Smith and Founders Legacy Foundation a 501c3 organization. The foundation embodies the ingenuity drive and passion of 13 women who had the foresight to see that there was a future for women in golf and golf in the future of women. Over the past seven decades events such as the Marilynn Smith Pro-Am and Shirley Spork Golf Tournament provided funds to promote opportunities for women in golf. The spirit of the Founders lives on in the special events presented by Golf It Forward. Events include the annual Silent Auction Sunday Tea and Marilynn Smith Scholarship Pro-Am. With these cornerstone fundraising events we are able to continue to grant 5,000 scholarships to high school female golfers looking to attend college.

What it reported doing in 2025

Donation to the LPGA for direct college scholarships for woman in golf.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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 the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 62
  • Accountability: 58
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 86.7%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 78.6%; rating input score 79; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 5%; rating input score 5; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 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: -28.3%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.4; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 86.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 0 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $100K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 43 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 31/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.