Spark Ns Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
922007188
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Menlo Park, CA, USA
Phone
6505151090
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
General Science

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,000,000
Expenses
$6,368,774
Assets
$3,912,988
Liabilities
$1,044,716

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHELE CUCULLU (DIRECTOR/PRESIDENT)
  • STEPHEN KARGOTICH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • OPHER KORNFELD (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • STEPHEN KARGOTICH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $378,462 total reported compensation
  • OPHER KORNFELD (VICE PRESIDENT): $275,570 total reported compensation
  • MARISOL URBANO (PROGRAM OPERATION MANAGER): $241,097 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Spark ns is dedicated to more efficiently advancing promising academic discoveries in neuroscience from the lab to the clinic.

What it reported doing in 2024

Continued building advisory panel and scientific board covering the indications of parkinson's disease, bipolar disorder and autism spectrum disorder; these advisors provide educational, mentorship and project advisory support.building a network of contract research organizations that will provide research and development services to the selected projects.

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 86% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 62.5%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 88.3%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 80%; rating input score 80; 14th 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: Fail
    • 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: 29.2%; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.9%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 135.3% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 136.1% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 149.5% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 62.5% of revenue deployed · 88.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $5.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $378K · 13 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.6M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: CEO compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.