Sepsis Alliance Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
383110993
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2012
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
6192320300
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Disaster Preparedness and Relief Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,597,227
Expenses
$2,809,124
Assets
$3,959,171
Liabilities
$181,338

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

28 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • THOMAS HEYMANN (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • THOMAS HEYMANN (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $321,372 total reported compensation
  • SAVANNAH STARK (VP DEVELOPMENT & OPERATION): $183,910 total reported compensation
  • ALEX COLVIN (DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATION): $152,613 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 save lives and reduce suffering by educating the public and leading an alliance of patients, healthcare professionals, and partners committed to preventing and curing sepsis.

What it reported doing in 2025

Public awareness and education & supportsepsis alliance continued to expand its reach through sepsis.org, which served over 1.5 million visitors with updated and multilingual resources. The organization launched several targeted campaigns, including the get vaxxed vaccine confidence campaign and an additional campaign which addressed infection prevention for cancer patients. These efforts were supported by grants from glaxosmithkline and astrazeneca. On a national level, sepsis awareness increased to 75%, a 9% increase over 2024 and a new high, according to the annual sepsis alliance awareness survey. Sepsis alliance connect grew to over 8,000 members, offering more than 150 live virtual support sessions and 14 new on-demand educational programs. (continued on sched o)(continued from part iii, 4a) the platform offers affinity groups for young adults, amputee survivors, and those with invisible disabilities after sepsis, and continues to expand its educational and resource offerings. Continued support for this program's educational offerings came from merck.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 51
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 37.3%; rating input score 37
  • Program expense ratio: 73.8%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th 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: Pass
    • 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 84.2%; rating input score 84; 18th 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: 49.8%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.41; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 36.3%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.4% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.2% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 37.3% of revenue deployed · 73.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $321K · 28 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 37/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.