Seal-nsw Family Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 271963880
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Carlsbad, CA, USA
- Phone
- 7605337172
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Fund Raising and Fund Distribution
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,409,350
- Expenses
- $2,503,317
- Assets
- $2,060,406
- Liabilities
- $120,406
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- STEPHEN GILMORE (PRESIDENT & CHAIRMAN)
- CINDY AXELSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- CINDY AXELSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $215,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To support individual and family readiness through an array of programs specifically targeted to assist the naval special warfare community in maintaining a resilient, sustainable, and healthy force in this era of persistent conflict and frequent deployments.
What it reported doing in 2025
Bereavement: number served 500gold star family support - funding for costs due to the loss of a family member including funerals, travel costs, memorials, resourcing participation by the veterans of foreign wars, military, honor guards, local police and fire department, and nsw receptions where the department of the navy is not authorized to cover expenses.wreaths across america - funding for travel to and accommodation in Virginia during the wreaths across american annual event for all nsw gold star families whose fallen seal is buried in arlington national cemetery.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 75% for direct work, and 25% for grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 27
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 76%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 72.7%; rating input score 73
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.64 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -3.9%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.82; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 8.6%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -2.3% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 76% of revenue deployed · 72.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $215K · 16 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $271K reported
- Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 4 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.