The Origins Project Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
832843258
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phone
2169703496
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$479,212
Expenses
$242,412
Assets
$412,590
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LAWRENCE KRAUSS (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • LAWRENCE KRAUSS (PRESIDENT)
  • LYNDSEY WAUGH (TREASURER)
  • JOHN EDWARDS (SECRETARY)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Ultimately, we are committed to inspiring wonder and excitement about the world around us. The origins project focuses on celebrating knowledge, skeptical inquiry, and creativity. By doing so, we hope to help provide broader a perspective for dealing with the challenges of the 21st century.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education and public awareness: we are living in unprecedented times. Revolutionary new technologies and scientific breakthroughs present unprecedented opportunities for us to build a better future even as climate change, the threat of nuclear war, loss of critical ecosystems, proliferation of plastics, and the spread of misinformation remain among our greatest challenges. The mission of the origins project foundation is to make it possible for scientists, scholars, writers, artists and the public to share knowledge and explorations about the most important challenges facing humanity in order to identify solutions, and promote and inspire positive and rational action.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 47.7%; rating input score 48
  • Program expense ratio: 94.3%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 49.4%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.7; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 25.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 47.7% of revenue deployed · 94.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $229K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.