The Gruber Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
451540594
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2021
Location
New Haven, CT, USA
Phone
2034325530
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,509,553
Expenses
$6,572,381
Assets
$249,290,232
Liabilities
$230,425

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Steven Wilkinson (President and Director)
  • Benjamin Polak (Former President and Director)
  • Pericles Lewis (Former President and Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Peter Salovey (Director (through 9/29/24)): $4,019,357 total reported compensation
  • Joan E O'Neill (Director): $956,657 total reported compensation
  • Maurie McInnis (Director (effective 9/30/24)): $890,194 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The gruber foundation honors individuals in the fields of cosmology, genetics, neuroscience, justice, and women's rights, whose groundbreaking work provides new models that inspire and enable fundamental shifts in knowledge and culture.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Gruber Foundation ("The Foundation") supports three major initiatives: The Gruber International Prize Program, The Gruber Program for Global Justice and Women's Rights, and the Gruber Science Fellowship program. The Gruber International Prize Program, which awarded $1,000,000 in prizes during the year, recognizes excellence in the fields of Cosmology, Genetics, and Neuroscience. The Gruber Program for Global Justice and Women's Rights is a Yale University program consisting of four core components: 1) the Global Constitutionalism Seminar, 2) the Gruber Distinguished Global Justice and Women's Rights Lectures, 3) the Gruber Global Justice and Women's Rights Fellowships, and 4) the gruber project for global justice and women's rights which provides clinical and experiential learning initiatives at Yale Law School that are consistent with the principles and ideals of the program. The Gruber Science Fellowship program provides annual fellowships to Yale University graduate students studying and conducting research in the basic life sciences, as well as in cosmology and astrophysics. The Foundation provided grants of $4,764,478 to Yale University of which $1,200,000 supported the Gruber Program for Global Justice and Women's Rights and $3,564,478 supported the Gruber Science Fellowship program. In addition, $315,000 of fellowships and other grants were paid during the fiscal year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 94% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 61
  • Accountability: 47
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.3%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 98.3%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 40%; rating input score 40; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 37.93; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.6%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -19.9% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.3% of revenue deployed · 98.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $4M · 9 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 28 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 40/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.