Project Healthy Minds

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
823616589
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2019
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
7327579620
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,727,552
Expenses
$5,540,802
Assets
$18,364,301
Liabilities
$641,472

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PHILLIP SCHERMER (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • PHILLIP SCHERMER (PRESIDENT & CEO): $395,142 total reported compensation
  • ROBERT MALCOLM WARE (VP OF PRODUCT): $259,972 total reported compensation
  • NATHAN URBACH (VP OF DEVELOPMENT): $224,298 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Project healthy minds is a new millennial /gen z-driven non-profit startup focused on tackling one of the defining issues of our generation: the growing mental health crisis

What it reported doing in 2025

Project healthy minds has accomplished many things during the course of 2025. Some of the highlights are as follows:1. We continued to serve thousands of americans through our digital platform by connecting them to life-saving mental health services. 2. We continued to scale our signature anti-stigma/advocacy program producing the largest festival in the world for world mental health day.3. We grew our corporate advocacy program working with companies to launch new programs to improve workforce mental health.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 41
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 92
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 21.1%; rating input score 21
  • Program expense ratio: 70.3%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $21.56 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95%; rating input score 95; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 70.4%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.31; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 29.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 54.5% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 49.5% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 44.3% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 21.1% of revenue deployed · 70.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $395K · 26 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $611K reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • 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 21/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.