Spondylitis Association of America

What it reported doing in 2025

Saa delivers patient education, disease awareness, and support services through an integrated digital platform that includes virtual seminars, webinars, educational content, online publications, and patient support resources. At the center of these efforts is www.spondylitis.org, a comprehensive online resource featuring thousands of pages of physician-reviewed information and serving over 705,000 unique visitors annually.global spondyloarthritis summit 2026 saas signature online educational program, 8thannual global spondyloarthritis summit, took place may 1-2. This year's summit featured 12 presentations by subject matter experts on practical strategies to address everyday challenges while living with spa. Each presentation followed by a live q&a for attendees to have their most pressing questions answered. The summit also featured a leaderboard challenge, an activity lounge and an exhibit hall. Saa also provided spanish language subtitles for the presentations. Nearly 3,000 attendees from 75 countries registered for this year's event. Recordings of the presentations are available as enduring content on saa's website. Healthed livestream - in fye 2026, saa developed and launched a new healthed livestream program, is it just back painor something more?, held live on february 21, 2026 and was designed to reach people experiencing chronic back pain who may not yet have a spondyloarthritis diagnosis. Our healthed livestream provided expert education on the common causes of chronic back pain, differences between inflammatory and mechanical back pain, the diagnostic process, and how individuals can advocate for appropriate evaluation and care. The program was launched in conjunction with the rollout of the a-tool, an axial spondyloarthritis screening assessment developed by abhijeet danve, md, of yale school of medicine. Saa collaborated with dr. Danve to make the a-tool available through saa's website, providing people with chronic back pain an accessible way to identify symptoms that may warrant further medical evaluation. The livestream was broadcast across multiple social media platforms including youtube, facebook, instagram, and x and was made available afterward as enduring educational content, creating a pathway from back pain awareness to screening and potential medical evaluation. The program was supported by an educational grant from abbvie.patient education publications include a collection of 15 physician-vetted english-language spondyloarthritis educational brochures and 10 spanish-language brochures. In fy26, the program was expanded with the addition of three new educational brochures focused on psoriatic arthritis, enteropathic arthritis, and hidradenitis suppurativa, addressing identified gaps in patient education resources.spondylitis plus magazine saa members receive quarterly issues of the organization's premiere print publication. Spondylitis plus provides indepth coverage of issues such as pain, fatigue, and other complications, discusses the latest research and treatment information often presented by prominent rheumatologists and researchers, features moving and unique personal stories from others with spondyloarthritis, and much more. Over 4,500 copies are distributed quarterly.esun saa redesigned its electronic spondyloarthritis update newsletter, transitioning from a single monthly publication to two issues per month. This enhanced communication model allows saa to deliver more timely news, research opportunities, upcoming programs and events, patient stories, and other spondyloarthritis-related resources to almost 50,000 subscribers.spondycast podcast series saa launched a new weekly podcast called spondycast in march 2023, with a total of 137 podcasts produced by fye26. Board member and host jill miller interviews world-renowned specialists in various fields including medicine, psychology, diet and nutrition, and fitness. Spondycast is available on a variety of platforms including spotify, apple, ihea

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 81.6%; rating input score 82
• Fundraising efficiency: $18.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
  • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
  • Requires narrative reports: Limited
  • Conducts field audits: Limited
  • May suspend future funding: Limited
  • Requires financial reports: Limited
  • Conducts site visits: Limited
  • Requires grant agreements: Limited
  • May require repayment: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: -36.2%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.37; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 23.6%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings