The Blue Bird Circle
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 741405134
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Houston, TX, USA
- Phone
- 7135280470
- Rating
- 87
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Neurology, Neuroscience
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,188,573
- Expenses
- $2,064,609
- Assets
- $16,517,110
- Liabilities
- $6,552,509
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Annette Griffith (President)
- Gail Branca (President-Elect)
- Margot Madsen (1st Vice President)
- Carolyn May (2nd Vice President)
People named in this filing
- Annette Griffith (President)
- Gail Branca (President-Elect)
- Margot Madsen (1st Vice 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 Blue Bird Circle (the Circle) is dedicated to the promotion of the well-being of humanity through the betterment of the community. Its charitable and benevolent activities are pledged to the support of The Blue Bird Circle Clinic for Pediatric Neurology at Texas Children's Hospital, The Blue Bird Circle Developmental Neurogenetics Laboratory at Baylor College of Medicine, The Blue Bird Circle Rett Center at Baylor College of Medicine, and the Blue Bird Circle Clinical Research Center at Texas Children's Hospital.
What it reported doing in 2024
Approximately 350 Blue Bird Circle members devote at least 50,000 hours every year working in The Blue Bird Circle Clinic for Pediatric Neurology at Texas Children's Hospital or in The Blue Bird Circle Resale Shop (the Shop) and other fundraising activities to support the Circle's charitable causes. The Shop is substantially run by the volunteer members of the Circle and provides an important source of funding to enable the Circle to support its projects.Continued on Schedule O. The mission of The Blue Bird Circle Clinical Research Center at Texas Children's Hospital is to bring ever-advancing therapies to its patients. The Center supports cutting-edge research in neurology and enhances the larger effort to build a clinical research support structure that will advance care to the next level and make a difference in the lives of children affected by neurological disorders. It capitalizes on the remarkable scientific discoveries being made in childhood neurological diseases and serves as the clinical research arm of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, as well as for the Blue Bird Circle Developmental Neurogenetics Lab and The Blue Bird Circle Rett Center, developing the treatments and cures of tomorrow. The Blue Bird Circle funded an endowed chair in pediatric neurology at Texas Children's Hospital to allow the program to have increased flexibility and to attract and keep the highest quality of physicians working in the area of pediatric neurology.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 60% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filed totals do not add up.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 97
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 65
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 68.1%; rating input score 68
- Program expense ratio: 82.5%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $38.86 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- 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: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 5.7%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 8; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 68.1% of revenue deployed · 82.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 19 people listed
- Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and related organizations
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 4 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.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 27/100.