The Iris Fund Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
931891413
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Ridgefield, CT, USA
Phone
8557722862
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Philanthropy, Charity, Voluntarism Promotion

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$488,486
Expenses
$468,405
Assets
$431,435
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Brittney Crystal (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Brittney Crystal (Executive Director): $100,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Organization's primary focus is to advance innovative research into what triggers labor in full-term pregnancies, with the goal of preventing preterm birth. The Iris Fund does this by making grants to leading institutions and universities to support multidisciplinary studies that integrate clinical care with engineering and biological research. In addition, The Iris Fund works to alleviate preterm birth and stillbirth at scale by supporting pregnancy-after-loss clinics and supporting high risk/loss families.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 67% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 44
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.8%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.68 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97.7%; rating input score 98; 59th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.1%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.92; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.3%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.5% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 40.6% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 42% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.8% of revenue deployed · 70% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $328K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $100K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.