Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience

Legal name: Max Planck Florida Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
262117502
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Jupiter, FL, USA
Phone
561.972.9000
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$33,505,675
Expenses
$32,637,651
Assets
$108,590,538
Liabilities
$1,835,234

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVID FITZPATRICK (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID FITZPATRICK (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $543,979 total reported compensation
  • LIN TIAN (SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR): $537,614 total reported compensation
  • IVAN BAINES (COO/TREASURER): $501,945 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to advance the understanding of brain function and dysfunction, while cultivating the next generation of innovators through education, outreach, and open collaboration.

What it reported doing in 2024

Max planck Florida corporation established its first scientific department in the summer of 2009 and has expanded to three research divisions and six research groups to fulfill its purpose to expand knowledge of the biosciences, and educate and train young scientists for biomedical research. The nine research labs focus in the areas of neuronal control of locomotion, disorders of neural circuit function, functional architecture and development of cerebral cortex, neural dynamics and cognitive functions, neuroenergetics, integrative neural circuits and behavior, molecular biotechnology for neural dynamics and therapeutics, neuronal mechanisms of episodic memory, and neuronal signal transduction. The institute and max-planck-gesellschaft zur foerderung der wissenschaften e.v. (max planck society for the advancement of science - "max planck society") have a funding agreement whereby max planck society will provide annual funding for essential core scientific and administrative operations based on a mutually agreed upon budget. During 2024, the institute received $19,328,825 from max planck society, which consists of $17,089,000 for operations, $1,042,231 for supplemental equipment funding, $772,869 for research groups, and $424,725 for graduate programs funding.

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 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 54
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.1%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 93%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $38.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 82.4%; rating input score 82; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.6%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.33; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.9%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.1% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 94.1% of revenue deployed · 93% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $30.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $544K · 27 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $180K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 34 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D expense reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D revenue reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.