Society of Senior Ford Fellows

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
851102780
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Stockton, NJ, USA
Phone
9082683074
Rating
60
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$267,930
Expenses
$66,776
Assets
$786,813
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Koritha Mitchell (President)
  • Kristy Duran (President)
  • Yvette Huet (President)
  • Keivan Stassun (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Koritha Mitchell (President)
  • Kristy Duran (President)
  • Yvette Huet (President)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of the Society of Senior Ford Fellows shall be to leverage its collective achievements as publicly facing scholars in the arts, education, engineering, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences in order to influence academic, national, and global conversations and action toward the attainment of social justice, equity, and the advancement of intellectual rigor and democratic values in the United States and global society.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, the Society of Senior Ford Fellows (SSFF) entered its fourth full year of incorporation following official incorporation in spring of 2020. In 2024, the SSFF focused program services on members services including further development of a web-based, public facing membership directory and growth of the membership base. SSFF income in 2024 was based on a membership campaign and associated member donations and on a general grant received from the Ford Foundation. The SSFF had 347 active members at the end of the calendar year. A 'general support' grant from Ford Foundation was submitted in the summer of 2022 and funded for a period of 5 years. We held several professional development conferences and board retreats. We held our second in-person members meeting in June of 2024 at the University of California District of Columbia (UCDC) site. We held our fourth virtual members conference in October of 2024. The virtual conference provided scholarly presentations with a keynote address by Dr. Lorrie Frasure (UCLA) as well as breakout sessions by region to brainstorm future SSFF events. These conferences are free. Financial support for member participants in the in-person conference were provided. In 2024, the SSFF also continued to build infrastructure. The infrastructure developed in 2024 included expansion of the SSFF web-presence and member-to-member communication tools. The directory has been used by academic institutions and the press to identify scholars for panels and articles. It is also used by members and students to identify potential mentors. The SSFF additionally contracted services to develop the website further. The SSFF also developed officer and board member handbooks and protocols.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% 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 revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 53
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 18
  • Sustainability: 90
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 22.4%; rating input score 22
  • Program expense ratio: 90%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $401.69 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 75.1%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.78; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 39% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 35.1% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 22.4% of revenue deployed · 90% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 12 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $60K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 22/100.
  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.