The Isabella Santos Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 261332748
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2011
- Location
- Charlotte, NC, USA
- Phone
- 9803222980
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Patient Services - Entertainment, Recreation
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,012,617
- Expenses
- $2,012,869
- Assets
- $540,983
- Liabilities
- $736
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
21 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Erin Santos (President)
Highest reported compensation
- Erin Santos (President): $141,042 total reported compensation
- Hailey Rorie (VP Marketing): $110,000 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 Isabella Santos Foundation was created in honor of Isabella Santos who fought neuroblastoma for over 5 years. The goal of the foundation is to raise money and awareness for neuroblastoma research, provide financial assistance to families with children who are suffering from cancer as well as provide financial support for organizations that support children with cancer.
What it reported doing in 2024
The TORCH Initiative - Transformational Outcomes for Rare Cancer Heroes - launched by the Isabella Santos Foundation in 2024, is dedicated to improving both the quantity and quality of life for children battling rare pediatric cancers beyond Charlotte by funding clinical trials, basic science research, survivorship programs, and critical hospital needs. It aims to raise $1-2 million annually to support hospitals and research institutions across the Carolinas and beyond in pioneering transformative cancer care for young rare cancer heroes.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 74% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 72% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 82
- Sustainability: 31
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 77%; rating input score 77
- Program expense ratio: 76.7%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: $5.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -0%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.27; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.5%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 77% of revenue deployed · 76.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $141K · 21 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 5 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.