Max Planck Florida Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
272007902
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2018
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
Jupiter, FL, USA
Phone
5619729000
Rating
32
Verdict
REVIEW
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,030,570
Expenses
$160,320
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The max planck Florida foundation, inc (mpff) was established to secure private philanthropic support from individuals, corporations, and foundations across the united states and internationally in support of the scientific mission, objectives, and programs of the max planck Florida institute for neuroscience, a not-for-profit research organization dedicated to answering fundamental questions about brain development and function and developing new technologies enabling groundbreaking discoveries. Mpff raises funds to advance neuroscience research, bring cutting-edge technologies to the institute, and train the next generation of the best and brightest graduate and post-graduate scientific investigators. In november 2018, mpff merged its operations and assets into max planck Florida corporation, a related tax-exempt organization and the sole member of mpff. At that time, mpff's existence as a separate legal entity ceased.

What it reported doing in 2018

Expenditures in support of program services were used to provide funding in research training fellowships, direct research in neuroscience, present a lecture series to the palm beach county residents and visitors advancing the role of max planck research in brain function and other scientific disciplines throughout the worldwide max planck organizations, host scientific symposia meetings bringing world renowned scientists to share and collaborate discoveries, and recurring fund raising activities and events. The foundation may also engage in activities to secure funds from governmental sources for the benefit of the institute. Funds recognized by the foundation from these activities were $1,639,101 and $889,101 for the years ended december 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. In november 2018, mpff merged its operations and assets into max planck Florida corporation, a related tax-exempt organization and the sole member of mpff. At that time, mpff ceased to exist as a separate legal entity.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 84% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
No current program activity. The filing reports no program spending for the current year.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

REVIEW - Program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 6
  • Transparency & Controls: 53
  • Accountability: 32
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.61 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: Limited
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 92.1%; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 68.2%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.8% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $445K · 13 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2010 to 2018
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 0/100.