Ocular Research Symposia Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
274531498
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2017
Forms available
Form 990 2017, Form 990-N 2010
Location
Tarzana, CA, USA
Phone
8188810942
Rating
57
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Eye Diseases, Blindness & Vision Impairments Research

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$643
Expenses
$2,749
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HOWARD W DICKER (PRESIDENT, CEO AND SECRETA)

People named in this filing

  • HOWARD W DICKER (PRESIDENT, CEO AND SECRETA)
  • JERALD R DAVIS (CFO)
  • GERALD CHADER (V.P. AND MEDICAL ADVISOR)

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 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To accelerate the pace of discovery in diseases of the eye by sharing information, ideas and findings and promoting the translation of these discoveries into preventions, treatments and cures for blinding ocular diseases.

What it reported doing in 2017

Sight restoration through stem cell therapy symposia was held in june 2015 in santa monica, California. Discussed and researched stem cell basic science, stem cell clinical applications, new diagnosis techniques and new drug treatments.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 47
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 12
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 17.3%; rating input score 17
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -327.5%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -53% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -36.3% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -33.1% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74% of revenue deployed · 17.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $476 in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 11 of 12 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2011 to 2017
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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: Program expense ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.