Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
208139201
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Ramon, CA, USA
Phone
9253806342
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,185,685
Expenses
$1,199,778
Assets
$4,523,325
Liabilities
$2,087,738

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Michael Conklin (President & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Michael Conklin (President & CEO): $153,039 total reported compensation
  • Mike Sandy (Secretary & CFO): $110,681 total reported compensation
  • Samantha Chapman (VP Programs): $104,038 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation (the Foundation) is a Colorado notprofit organization formed in 2007 for the purpose of assisting veterans who have suffered severe duty-related injuries resulting in permanent physical disability since September 11, 2001 in their efforts to become productive, self-sufficient, integrated members of their community, and to raise awareness of the sacrifice these veterans have made in order to motivate the local community to rally behind these young men and women and ensure their success. The Foundation develops a scholarship package for each sentinel that may include providing a home or an apartment adapted to the specific disabilities of the veteran, employment and employment training, reliable transportation, financial and career counseling, and mentoring.

What it reported doing in 2024

Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation (the Foundation) is a Colorado not-for-profit organization which was formed and commenced its operations in January 2007 for the purpose of assisting veterans who have suffered severe duty-related injuries resulting in permanent physical disability since September 11, 2001. The assistance is intended to enable these veterans to become productive, self-sufficient, integrated members of their community, and to raise awareness of the sacrifice these veterans have made in order to motivate the local community to rally behind these young men and women and ensure their success. The Foundation offers a scholarship package for each sentinel that may include providing a home or an apartment adapted to the specific disabilities of the veteran, employment and employment training, reliable transportation, financial and career counseling, and mentoring.We had 52 Sentinels in the program at the end of 2024 and maintained a 89% success rating for graduations.

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 64% for direct work, and 36% for 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 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: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.7%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 65.7%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 26th 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: 96.8%; rating input score 97; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 76.9%; rating input score 77; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: -1.2%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.77; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 30.7%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.7% of revenue deployed · 65.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $789K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $153K · 13 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

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 — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 32/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.