The Guardian Foundation Inc-Affiliates

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911842720
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Ooltewah, TN, USA
Phone
4042336500
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Nursing, Convalescent Facilities

Reported finances

Revenue
$200,414,805
Expenses
$174,404,550
Assets
$157,427,071
Liabilities
$86,169,796

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DIANNE GATTORNO (PRESIDENT)
  • MARK A WALDROP (DIR, PRESIDENT/CEO)
  • SUZANNE SHANNON (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARK A WALDROP (DIR, PRESIDENT/CEO): $749,270 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM F ROWE III (DIRECTOR, Asst Secretary, Consultant): $460,687 total reported compensation
  • SUZANNE SHANNON (SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT): $373,607 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 charitable mission is to provide care for elderly, individuals with intellectual disabilities, and individuals who have acquired brain injuries.

What it reported doing in 2024

See schedule o for complete description.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 98% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 75
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.7%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 72.7%; rating input score 73; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.9; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.8%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.8% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.7% of revenue deployed · 87.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $152.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $749K · 15 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $9.5M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 13 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.