Seattle Children's

Legal name: Seattle Children's Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911156519
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2020
Location
Seattle, WA, US
Phone
206-987-2000
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$232,072,474
Expenses
$232,072,474
Assets
$2,650,515
Liabilities
$2,650,515

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

Leadership & pay

51 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • DONDI CUPP (SR VICE PRES & CHIEF DEV OFFICER): $856,470 total reported compensation
  • KARI RALLO (VP & DEPUTY CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $419,863 total reported compensation
  • AILEEN KELLY (VP DEVELOPMENT/EXEC DIR GUILD ASSN): $375,308 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Seattle Children's Foundation raises philanthropic support for Seattle Children's Hospital, enabling uncompensated care, research, and expanded access to pediatric healthcare.

What it reported doing in 2024

Seattle children's foundation ("the foundation") solicits and receives private gifts and grants for the benefit of seattle children's healthcare system, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, and its affiliates, primarily seattle children's hospital. Donations made to the foundation support seattle children's mission to provide hope, care and cures to help every child live the healthiest and most fulfullling life possible. These contributions help fund patient care programs, research activities, uncompensated care provided to patients with insufficient medical coverage, education for pediatric residents and other healthcare providers, child advocacy programs and capital projects. In addition, the foundation engages a corps of professional advisor volunteers in increasing the public's awareness of the benefits of charitable planning and the creation of charitable gift plans. Attorneys, financial advisors, accountants, insurance professionals and other volunteers help with efforts to educate the community on charitable giving strategies. To support these advisors, the foundation provides continuing education courses, networking and training events, educational materials, and complimentary case consultations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 93
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.5%; rating input score 90
  • Program expense ratio: 90.5%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.9%; rating input score 97; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.01; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 90.5% of revenue deployed · 90.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 31 of 32 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $210M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $856K · 51 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.7M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 22 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 11 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 7/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.