Sam Schmidt Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
431878305
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone
7024632940
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Rehabilitative Medical Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,657,600
Expenses
$2,394,847
Assets
$33,509,018
Liabilities
$674,662

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHAD W TOWNER (FORMER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRISTINE LOUCK (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $194,864 total reported compensation
  • CHAD W TOWNER (FORMER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $168,360 total reported compensation
  • BRANDI KURKA (FORMER EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $159,790 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The organization is committed to finding treatments and/or cures for spinal cord injuries and/or paralysis. The schmidt family has made a multi-year commitment to underwrite all of conquer paralysis now's administrative costs to ensure that 100% of every dollar donated to the foundation will go directly to finding treatments and/or cures for spinal cord injuries and/or paralysis.

What it reported doing in 2024

The organization provides rehabilitation and therapy services to patients and recognizes service income from those patients at the time services are rendered.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% 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

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 few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 42
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 85
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 14.1%; rating input score 14
  • Program expense ratio: 74.6%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $80.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 81.1%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.99; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.8%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.2% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 36.6% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 39.3% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 14.1% of revenue deployed · 74.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $195K · 13 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $9.6M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 14/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.