The Derek Sheely Foundation

Legal name: The Derek Sheely Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
453553641
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2014
Location
State College, PA, US
Phone
2408998579
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Brain Disorders

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$84,792
Expenses
$19,110
Assets
$670,678
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KEYTON SHEELY (PRESIDENT)
  • STEPHEN P KADNER (VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • KEYTON SHEELY (PRESIDENT)
  • STEPHEN P KADNER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL HAASE (SECRETARY)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To increase awareness and research of concussions and traumatic brain injuries, including supporting advancements in education, prevention, and treatment for all causes of traumatic brain injuries with a focus on youth sports.

What it reported doing in 2025

Scholarships are available for students of frostburg state university with a grade point average of 3.4 or higher who exemplify leadership qualities and provide 40 hours of community service to increase awareness of concussions and traumatic brain injuries in sports.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 74% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 91% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 45
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 85
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 26.3%; rating input score 26
  • Program expense ratio: 92.5%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 62.5%; rating input score 62; 50th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • 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: 77.5%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 35.1; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 30.8% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10% per year; rating input score 0; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 26.3% of revenue deployed · 92.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $18K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 16 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 26/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.