Seattle Science Foundation

What it reported doing in 2024

The seattle science foundation is advancing the quality of patient care through education, research, innovation, and technology. Through our international communication platform we bring together medical and scientific communities from around the world and provide all of the tools necessary for physicians and researchers to make groundbreaking advancements in the field of medicine. Planned and implemented 17 full and multi-day continuing medical education courses for physicians, residents, fellows, medical students, nurses and other allied health professionals. Topics included: * 9th annual innovative approaches to brain tumor management * 12th annual seattle otology & rhinology course * 14th annual multimodal spinal tumors * 14th annual multimodal spinal tumors * 10th annual advanced lateral approaches to the spine * 3rd annual image guided interventional spine procedures course * 10th annual mis spine symposium * 12th annual ssf spine masters * 2nd annual endoscopic spine course * 15th annual ssf spine residents & fellows * 9th annual spinal deformity symposium * 6th annual advances in motion preservation of the spine * pacific nw or personnel training course * 11th annual interventional pain mgmt fellows * 10th annual spine trauma symposium * 9th annual ssf robotics course planned and implemented 8 regular scheduled conferences. * interesting spine case discussion series * sted talks series * arthroplasty triumphs & defeats case discussion series * cerebrovascular conference * an evening with a spine surgeon * neurosurgery grand rounds * neurology grand rounds & case conference * virtual spine journal club in 2024, we awarded 3,807 cme credits for our accme accredited courses. We created 650 new educational videos that were posted online for free, reaching physicians in over 196 countries worldwide. Top countries reached include: * austria * brazil * canada * france * germany * greece * hon kong * india * indonesia * jordan * kenya * malaysia * mexico * nigeria * pakistan * peru * poland * russia * singapore * turkey * ukraine * united kingdom * united states 90% of the combined online and in person attendees identified as md or do. 36% of our combined online and in person attendees have been in practice for 0-5 years. As a physician driven, open access communication platform, we worked with 280 volunteer faculty, both nationally and internationally to create our open access medical education content and training courses. In 2024, we reached 6.5 million views on our ssf youtube channel (www.ssfyoutube.org). An increase of 71%. We also added 46.2k new subscribers to our ssf youtube channel. An increase of more than 149%. We continued to develop weekly educational trainings for the following spine training programs across the united states. * barrow neurological institute * cedars sinai * center for spine and orthopedics * hospital for special surgery * Indiana spine group * mayo clinic * norton leatherman spine center * penn medicine * rothman orthopedic institute * swedish neuroscience institute * university of Arkansas * university of louisville * university of Maryland * weill cornell * Texas back institute * uc san francisco community outreach we provided a number of community outreach opportunities for middle school, high school, undergraduate and graduate level students looking to pursue a career in medicine. * mini medical school - ssf provided an academic summer opportunity for high school and undergraduate students with a strong interest in pre-med or medically related field. Students had the opportunity to dissect human cadaveric specimens, work with the latest technology in a state-of-the-art medical facility and network with leading physicians, residents and fellows. * summer internship - ssf offered a unique internship opportunity that allowed high school and undergraduate students the opportunity to work directly with a clinical research physician. On day one, interns began developing a multi-disciplinary resea

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 88.1%; rating input score 88
• Program expense ratio: 82.4%; rating input score 82
• Fundraising efficiency: $368.44 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 3rd 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: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -6.7%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.96; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 46.3%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: -3.5% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -2.8% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -5.4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings