Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
366009467
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Rosemont, IL, USA
Phone
8474305101
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Nerve, Muscle, Bone Diseases Research

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,671,069
Expenses
$6,171,537
Assets
$20,002,839
Liabilities
$3,274,136

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Joshua J Jacobs MD (President)
  • Thomas P Sculco MD (Past President)
  • Richard F Kyle MD (Past President)
  • Andrew N Pollak MD (President Elect)
  • James R Ficke MD (2nd President Elect)
  • Rhonda Dirr (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lee Grossman (CEO): $369,096 total reported compensation
  • Dan Krupp (Corporate Relations/Innova): $197,690 total reported compensation
  • Deborah Cummins (VP of Research and Grants): $197,637 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) mission is improving lives by supporting excellence in orthopaedic research. OREF's vision is that it will be the leader in supporting orthopaedic research to improve function, eliminate pain and restore mobility.

What it reported doing in 2024

Grant program: The purpose of OREF is to support research into the causes and treatment of musculoskeletal diseases and injuries. OREF's niche is supporting surgeon-researchers and PHD-researchers in basic science/translation, clinical, and health services research.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 63% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 63
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 30.1%; rating input score 30; 13th 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; 63rd 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: -32.1%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.24; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.8%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -6.1% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -6.4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 80.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $4.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $369K · 24 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 25 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 17 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.

  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 30/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.