The Jason Foundation, Inc.
Legal name: The Jason Foundation Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 621714715
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Hendersonville, TN, US
- Phone
- (615) 264-2323
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Human Service Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,858,735
- Expenses
- $2,139,138
- Assets
- $5,671,550
- Liabilities
- $306,803
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
31 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MICHELE RAY (CEO/TREAS/BO)
- CLARK FLATT (PRESIDENT/BO)
Highest reported compensation
- MICHELE RAY (CEO/TREAS/BO): $181,730 total reported compensation
- CLARK FLATT (PRESIDENT/BO): $175,400 total reported compensation
- DEANNE RAY (EMPLOYEE BOA): $131,887 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 Jason Foundation, Inc. is dedicated to the prevention of youth suicide through educational programs that raise awareness and provide resources to students, parents, educators, and communities.
What it reported doing in 2025
The jason foundation, inc. (jfi) is dedicated to the prevention of the "silent epidemic" of youth suicide through educational and awareness programs that equip young persons, educators/youth workers and parents with the tools and resources to help identify and assist at-risk youth. Youth suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for our youth ages 10-24. One out of every 11 young people in our nation reported in the 2023 youth risk behavioral survey that they had "attempted suicide" in the previous twelve months - that equates to an average of 4,046 attempts each day in our nation. - please refer to schedule o for additional information
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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 77
- Transparency & Controls: 79
- Accountability: 81
- Sustainability: 64
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 69.4%; rating input score 69
- Program expense ratio: 90.2%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: $42.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- 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: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- 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: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 25.2%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.65; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 36.2%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 69.4% of revenue deployed · 90.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 21 of 28 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $182K · 31 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- 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: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.