Sommelier Scholarship Fund Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
844476971
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2126252519
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$77,760
Expenses
$88,480
Assets
$94,157
Liabilities
$14,177

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

People named in this filing

  • DANIEL JOHNNES (CHAIRMAN)
  • JAIME DUTTON (ASSISTANT TR)
  • MAX GOLDBERG LIU (SECRETARY, T)

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

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our objective is to open doors to young sommeliers and wine professionals who are striving to achieve excellence in the world of wine through organizing educational travel programs - both to wine regions and to come work at our festivals - hosting seminars & dinners, and supporting other educational organizations and initiatives.

What it reported doing in 2025

There was an auction in march 2020 - all funds go towards benefitting young aspiring wine professionals and sommeliers by reimbursing travel and hotel for our major wine events and taking them on trips to vineyards mostly in france. French winemakers donated the wines for this 2020 auction and zachys wine auctions inc. Paid the proceeds to the sommelier scholarship fund inc. In 2020.

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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 100
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -13.8%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.06; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 29.6% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.6% per year; rating input score 0; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $88K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.