Project Life

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
274233680
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2013, Form 990-N 2010
Location
Charlotte, NC, USA
Phone
8287720365
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Health Program (Includes General Health and Wellness Promotion Services)

Reported finances

Revenue
$267,993
Expenses
$352,781
Assets
$38,175
Liabilities
$3,045

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Ann Henegar (Executive Dir.): $92,689 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Project Life is a national movement to increase the potential pool of bone marrow and tissue donors by testing and registering college students with a simple cheek swab.

What it reported doing in 2024

Project Life Movement has one overall program services model. Project LifeMovement (PLM) saves lives and cures diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma and sicklecell anemia by growing the number of potential bone marrow donors on the nationalbone marrow registry. For many patients, a bone marrow transplant is their onlytreatment option, and, in many cases, a bone marrow transplant can be a completecure. 20,000 patients need transplants every year; less than half will find a match.The need is greater among minorities as they are significantly under-represented onthe registry. Bottom line, there are not enough people on the registry and there isa devastating healthcare inequity for some groups. PLMs model is simple: weestablish bone marrow drives on college campuses.PLM is becoming a national coalition of colleges that empowers student leaders tohost drives and recruit their classmates to join the national registry. By focusingon college students, PLM targets optimal candidates for non-related bone marrowdonation from both a 2 medical perspective and from an eligibility perspective. Witha simple, quick cheek swab, young, healthy donors register at the youngest agepossible (18) and remain on the registry for years. Our model works because we makeit simple and turnkey for the students. We travel to campus with marketingmaterials, swab kits and educational tools. Students bring their energy and recruittheir classmates. We are highly- collaborative and empower students in theirvolunteer service programming.In November 2018, Gift of Life became Project Life Movements new clinical partner. Be The Match, our former clinical partner ceased swabbing on college campuses on went toa on-line registry only. Gift of Life provides the swab kits and handles the adding the new registrants on the global registry.The PLM mission remains the same: to add more people to the national registry so that all patients, regardless of race, have a lifesaving bone marrow match.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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.

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: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 11
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 82%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -31.6%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.11; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.3%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -4.2% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.1% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 82% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $289K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $93K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.