Pediatric Spine Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
203169071
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Layton, UT, USA
Phone
4844106413
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Nerve, Muscle, Bone Diseases Research

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,866,494
Expenses
$1,736,562
Assets
$7,870,627
Liabilities
$131,765

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAUL SPONSELLER MD (PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL VITALE MD MPH (PRESIDENT-ELECT)
  • TRICIA ST HILAIRE MPH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • TRICIA ST HILAIRE MPH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $183,681 total reported compensation
  • REGINA WOON (RESEARCH MANAGER): $124,529 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Provide structure and funding to support education, provide family support, and conduct prospective and retrospective studies by surgeons and researchers studying complex chest wall and spine deformities in the growing child.

What it reported doing in 2024

The pediatric spine foundation leads a community of individuals dedicated to improving the quality of care and the outcome of treatment for young patients and families dealing with complex spine deformity. The pediatric spine foundation focuses its efforts in three areas: research, education, and patient access to care. In 2024, the foundation supported multiple research studies on new treatments, quality of life, and complications, including two randomized controlled clinical trials. The foundation also supports 14 research interest groups to facilitate, discuss, and prioritize research projects. The foundation hosted multiple forums for clinicians to discuss best practices and to disseminate findings, including the international congress on early onset scoliosis. The foundation supported multiple families travel to obtain access to quality care.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 68% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 88% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 93
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 85
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.1%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 96.8%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $322.74 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 84.7%; rating input score 85; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 7%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.53; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.7%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.1% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.1% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.1% of revenue deployed · 96.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $184K · 14 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 7 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: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.