Sagamore Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 201161578
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2023
- Location
- Indianapolis, IN, USA
- Phone
- 3174722050
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $23,771,497
- Expenses
- $24,600,542
- Assets
- $19,518,915
- Liabilities
- $1,373,968
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
24 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JAY F HEIN (CEO)
- DAVID PALMER (CEO - PURPOSEFUL DESIGN)
- TERESA S LUBBERS (PRESIDENT)
- ROBERT F PANOS (VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JAY F HEIN (CEO): $296,712 total reported compensation
- TERESA S LUBBERS (PRESIDENT): $214,983 total reported compensation
- HENRY J HENDRIX (SENIOR FELLOW): $202,869 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
An indianapolis-based nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization or "think tank." it is our mission to research and analyze difficult issues and to connect the best ideas with leaders who can transform them into smarter policy and improved practice.
What it reported doing in 2025
Education the global teach exchange (formerly the j-1 visa program) issues visas and monitors highly qualified international teachers who come to the u.s. To teach and share their culture and perspectives. The exchange visitor program promotes mutual understanding between people of different nations by cultural and educational exchange, allowing foreign teachers to teach in accredited u.s. K12 schools and return home to share their experience. Sagamore also operates the scholarships for education choice program, an Indiana scholarship-granting organization (sgo). It awards scholarships so eligible families may choose the school that best fits their child. The program allows individual and business donors to receive a state tax credit equal to 50 % of their gift. Over its lifetime, the program has awarded tens of millions of dollars in scholarships to Indiana students.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 94% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 42% for direct work, and 58% for grants.
- 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 95
- Transparency & Controls: 68
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 25
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 99.4%; rating input score 99
- Program expense ratio: 92.4%; rating input score 92
- Fundraising efficiency: $78.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- 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: 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -3.5%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.79; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.4%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 99.4% of revenue deployed · 92.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $22.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $297K · 24 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.5M reported
- Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 22 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 9 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.