Prize4life Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
205055664
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2017–2019
Forms available
Form 990 2016, Form 990-EZ 2019
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
6175454882
Rating
33
Verdict
REVIEW
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Reported finances

Revenue
$59
Expenses
$1,812
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

People named in this filing

  • AMY JENKINS (DIRECTOR)
  • GUY YAMEN (DIRECTOR)
  • ILANA GOLAN (DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To accelerate discovery of treatments and a cure for als.

What it reported doing in 2019

Prize4life is an innovative "results-based not-for-profit organization whose mission is to accelerate the discovery of treatments and a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (als), a progressive neurodegenerative disease, by using powerful incentives to attract new people and drive innovation. On may 30, 2018, the board of directors voted to dissolve the organization after 11+ years of operation, the awarding of two, $1m prizes and $125k in additional smaller prizes and the successful launch of several tools and programs to support the als research community. Upon a strategic review of the als landscape in late 2017/early 2018, it was determined that the the als association was successfully operating a research funding program that targeted the biggest gap in the drug discovery process. The board assessed that the remaining prize4life funds could be most efficiently put to use via this program. The majority of the organization's total expenses in 2018 were used to administer the dissolution process with the state of Massachusetts and wind down operations

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
No current program activity. The filing reports no program spending for the current year.

The verdict

REVIEW - The filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 8
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2,971.2%; rating input score 1; 1st 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 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -144.1% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -30.9% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -22.4% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2017 to 2019
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • 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.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.