The Shield Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
883602717
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
South Bend, IN, USA
Phone
7034311801
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,508,000
Expenses
$879,885
Assets
$723,898
Liabilities
$30,153

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR TOM CARTER III (CEO/TREASURER)
  • JOHN SHIELDS SR (CHAIRMAN/PRESIDENT)
  • JOHN SHIELDS JR (VICE PRESIDENT/SECRETARY)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR TOM CARTER III (CEO/TREASURER): $344,502 total reported compensation
  • BRANDYN CURRY (PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $135,718 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To assist former collegiate student athletes with their transition to a career outside of athletics and to provide them with resources to enhance their personal and professional development, assist and support their physical, behavioral and mental health as well as to provide assistance with their continuing education.

What it reported doing in 2025

Life after notre dame ("land"), provides no-cost transition support to former university of notre dame student-athletes, managers, and athletic trainers as they move out of competitive athletics. The program focuses on career, mental health, and physical health needs through individualized assessments, customized transition plans, one-on-one support, job search assistance, mock interviews, mentoring, alumni networking, and referrals to specialized service providers. In 2025, land supported 225 individuals, a 114% increase from 2024, and helped 56 participants secure new full-time employment, a 155% increase from the prior year. Land also expanded its career, mental health, and physical health referral partnerships and increased outreach through notre dame legacy weekend and communications to approximately 15,000 former notre dame athlete alumni.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. 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: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 68
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.4%; rating input score 54
  • Program expense ratio: 93.3%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 41.7%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.82; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 54.6%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 20.4% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 33.6% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 83.2% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.4% of revenue deployed · 93.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $821K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $345K · 6 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 54/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.