The Edgar Snow Memorial Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 431208493
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2009–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2013
- Location
- Kansas City, MO, USA
- Phone
- 8162352181
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Promotion of International Understanding
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $15,711
- Expenses
- $34,455
- Assets
- $118,804
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Sidne Ward (President)
- Brad Kleindl (Co- President)
- John Phillips (Vice President)
- Zhuang Li (Vice President)
People named in this filing
- Sidne Ward (President)
- Brad Kleindl (Co- President)
- Dwayne Williams (Immediate past presiden)
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
To promote cultural exchange
What it reported doing in 2025
The Foundation supports cultural exchange and community engagement activities that promote understanding between the American and Chinese people, consistent with its exempt mission.The Foundation was a sponsor of the annual Kansas City International Dragon Boat Festival, organized by the Society for Friendship with China, whose mission is to conduct friendship activities, trade, tourism, and educational exchanges, and to promote greater understanding between the people of China and the Kansas City metropolitan area. The event enhanced ethnic diversity, cultural awareness, and understanding of Chinese culture, benefiting an estimated 2,000 visitors.The Foundation also partnered with the Kansas City Chinese Association (KCCA) and the Kansas City Chinese American Association (KCCAA) on their annual Chinese New Year Celebration activities, benefiting an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 individuals.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 96
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Sustainability: 40
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 89.8%; rating input score 90
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -119.3%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.45; rating input score 77; 77th 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 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -3.6% per year; rating input score 0; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -2.5% per year; rating input score 0; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 89.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $31K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2009 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.