Richmond Institute for Veterans Research

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
541522206
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Richmond, VA, USA
Phone
8046755151
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Medical Research N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,542,579
Expenses
$5,072,728
Assets
$16,648,961
Liabilities
$359,630

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SHERYL UNDERWOOD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • FRANKLIN ZIEVE (PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR): $148,359 total reported compensation
  • SHERYL UNDERWOOD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $131,776 total reported compensation
  • MIKELA JULY (FINANCIAL OFFICER): $109,670 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Medical research, education and patient care.

What it reported doing in 2025

Richmond institute for veterans research (rivr) is a 501(c)(3)/509(a)(3)organization formed to support research, education, and patient care in the richmond va medical center. Rivr supports over 100 va approved research projects. Investigators focus their efforts on carrying out studies to develop and verify knowledge relating to the causes, diagnoses, treatment, and prevention of disease. Investigators publish scientific articles and present them at scientific meetings.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 78% 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: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.9%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 78.3%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $271.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.5%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.28; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.7%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.9% of revenue deployed · 78.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $148K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.