SFPE Educational and Scientific Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 042701210
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2018
- Location
- Gaithersburg, MD, USA
- Phone
- 3019159735
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $573,895
- Expenses
- $595,321
- Assets
- $1,030,656
- Liabilities
- $169,046
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
22 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Leslie Marshall (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Chris Jelenewicz (Secretary until 9/9): $232,767 total reported compensation
- Leslie Marshall (Executive Director): $138,429 total reported compensation
- Erica Kuligowski (Governor): $1,500 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 enhance the scientific understanding of fire and its interaction with the social, natural, and built environments. Research grants are awarded to students, faculty, universities, and companies. The Foundation also distributes professional awards, competitive scholarships, and develops educational content.
What it reported doing in 2025
Research grants were awarded to students, universities, and consultants to advance the science and practice of fire protection engineering; educational content was delivered through in-person conferences and trainings, as well as online.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 71% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 55% for direct work, and 45% for grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. 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: 66
- Transparency & Controls: 66
- Accountability: 92
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.2%; rating input score 75
- Program expense ratio: 71.8%; rating input score 72
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Pass
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Pass
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 95.5%; rating input score 95; 28th 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: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: -3.7%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.73; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.3%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 29.4% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 17.8% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 75.2% of revenue deployed · 71.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 21 of 22 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $427K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $233K · 22 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 8 filing years from 2011 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 5 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.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.