Nova Institute for Health Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
201799284
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Baltimore, MD, USA
Phone
4436817609
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Health - General and Rehabilitative N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,704,547
Expenses
$3,215,488
Assets
$11,554,438
Liabilities
$657,208

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRIAN M BERMAN MD (PRESIDENT/CHAIRMAN)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRIAN M BERMAN MD (PRESIDENT/CHAIRMAN): $778,403 total reported compensation
  • SUSAN H BERMAN (EXEC DIR/SECY/TREAS): $277,232 total reported compensation
  • RICK SCOTT (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $253,069 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule o

What it reported doing in 2024

Demonstration projects: part of our work is to explore, develop, and test new models and approaches for health and healing. These include scalable, replicable demonstration projects that are based on rigorous research and have real-life impact. They have included helping youth in vulnerable communities learn about wellness and nutrition, developing culinary medicine curriculum for medical students, helping veterans and hospitalized military suffering from trauma, and re-envisioning primary care to maximize its capacity to recognize and address the myriad factors that influence a persons health.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 71% for direct work, and 29% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 63
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 82%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.37 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th 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: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97.4%; rating input score 97; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 60%; rating input score 60; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: -18.9%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.59; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 50.9%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 31.2% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -7.9% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 82% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $2.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $778K · 8 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 39 current checks pass · 3 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.