Multiple Sclerosis Association of America Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Public education, information & referral: msaa's national educational programs deliver high-quality, informative programming to individuals with ms, care partners, and healthcare professionals nationwide. These programs cover a variety of topics all aimed at improving health outcomes for individuals living with ms. Msaa partners with a national network of healthcare professionals to present programs of scientific and educational value. These in-person and virtual educational programs cover a wide breadth of topics, ranging from advances in disease research and symptom management, to nutrition and wellness activities, as well as programs for underserved populations. (continue in schedule o)msaa also regularly offers virtual and digital programming focused on scientific updates in disease management and best practices in treatment protocol for healthcare professionals who treat those living with ms. In 2019, msaa developed an african american advisory board and a hispanic/latinx advisory board comprised of ms healthcare professionals, individuals living with ms, and care partners, to develop initiatives to serve the african american and hispanic/latinx ms patient communities. Through publications, webinars, videos, podcasts, the organization's website, a helpline, and educational programs, the association provides the ms community and the general public with vital information about the disease, the management of symptoms, research updates, and wellness strategies. The association publishes a national magazine, the motivator, which is distributed biannually with a circulation of approximately 90,000. The magazine is also available as a digital edition. Individual client needs are met through the association's national toll-free helpline. Our trained client services specialists responded to more than 15,000 client inquiries in fy25 and provided clients with contacts to appropriate services throughout the nation. Msaa's website had more than 560,000 sessions during the year ended june 30, 2025. The association offers a mobile phone application to assist its clients in monitoring, tracking, and managing their ms as well as sharing data with their physicians. The association employs various digital tactics to communicate with its constituents. The association is active on 7 different social media platforms. The association also hosts a blog, offers an online peer-to-peer community, and answers questions through its ms questions email option and website chat feature. The association received a google grant valued at $89,235 in fy25. This allowed the association to promote the organization's programs and services via keywords through google's search engine in an effort to assist individuals searching for information online related to ms.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 67.9%; rating input score 68
• Program expense ratio: 63.9%; rating input score 64
• Fundraising efficiency: $3.71 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 66th 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: -3.1%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.69; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 10%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings