Pacific Neuroscience Institute Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
475552178
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Santa Monica, CA, USA
Phone
4244651551
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,059,533
Expenses
$6,828,962
Assets
$43,477,387
Liabilities
$1,755,537

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HOWARD R KRAUSS MD (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KAREN MILLER (SR. DIRECTOR LIFESTYLE PROGRAMS): $308,377 total reported compensation
  • JENNIFER BRAMEN (SR. RESEARCH SCIENTIST): $186,344 total reported compensation
  • RITA JETHANI (DIRECTOR OF MARKETING): $185,640 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To promote advances in neuroscience clinical care and research through novel treatment approaches that optimize brain health and quality of life; to train the next generation of neuroscientists and clinicians, and to educate patients and the community at large on vital neuroscience issues.

What it reported doing in 2024

Neuroscience research: the neuroscience research center integrates basic science, preclinical, and clinical research to improve the understanding of brain tumor biology with a goal of combining laboratory and clinical data to open new avenues toward therapies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 84% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 87% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 96.7%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 72.7%; rating input score 73; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -35%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.37; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.8%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.5% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.4% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 96.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $308K · 19 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $362K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.