The Many Brains Project Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474239522
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2016
Location
Belmont, MA, USA
Phone
8573956897
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Science and Technology N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$423,904
Expenses
$623,251
Assets
$454,099
Liabilities
$255,531

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAURA GERMINE (PRESIDENT/TREASURER/DIRECT)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAOLO MARTINI (HEAD OF RESEARCH & DEVELOP): $161,305 total reported compensation
  • ROGER STRONG (HEAD OF PSCYOMETRICS & DAT): $147,715 total reported compensation
  • CORIANNA MOFFATT (DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS): $118,127 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 many brains project, inc. Is organized and operated exlusively to (1) advance scientific knowledge in the fields of neuroscience and psychology through the development of open source tools, (2) advanceeducation in neuroscience and psychology, and (3) promote brain healthand mental health. The many brains project's core mission is to curateand broadly disseminate high-quality, open source, web-optimizedneurocognitive ("brain") tests for scientific research and educationaluse. By reducing the cost of precisely measuring cognitive and brainfunction in each individual person, the availability of such tests canaccelerate the accumulation of knowledge both in the basic sciences andin key applied research areas such as education and medicine. Further, making these technologies open source allows others to adapt and buildon technology developed by many brains, further facilitating theirdissemination, use, and contribution to the advancement of science.

What it reported doing in 2024

(1) we rebuilt the public testmybrain.org website which serves up to 1,000 users a day who want to contribute to science by taking cognitive tests while also learning more about their mind and brain. Since the rebuild, more participants are participating in the public research studies in the tmb digital lab, with over 151,000 tests completed by over 117,000 people. (2) additionally many brains continued support and distribution of the tmb cognitive science toolkit, a free cognitive testing tool for educators, students, and researchers around the world. This toolkit is currently serving 82 testing sites, with over 3,400 participants, producing over 11,000 scientific results. (3) many brains has also continued to support and distribute the tmb digital neuropsychology toolkit, a free cognitive testing tool designed for clinicians. This toolkit has served over 15,000 participants, generating over 84,000 scientific results since its creation in 2020 in response to the global covid19 pandemic. (4) we created, updated, and maintained a github repository of our open source code. (5) in line with our open data mission, we shared our large datasets with researchers from all over the world. (6) we engaged in sponsored research with numerous studies all over the country, supporting projects with focuses including alzheimer's & related dementias, covid19, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, addiction, and early psychosis intervention.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 89% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 14
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 75.5%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -47%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.73; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.56; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 68.5%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 23.9% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.4% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 34% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 75.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $471K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $161K · 7 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.