The Spark Institute Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 453940350
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Simsbury, CT, USA
- Phone
- 8606585058
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Professional Societies, Associations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,247,165
- Expenses
- $2,200,729
- Assets
- $2,730,264
- Liabilities
- $330,474
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- TIMOTHY ROUSE (EXECUTIVE DI): $539,984 total reported compensation
- MARLENE D JUNG (COO AND CFO): $206,000 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 spark institute, inc. ("spark") helps to shape national retirement policy by providing research, education, testimony and comments on pending legislative and regulatory issues to members of congress and relevant government agency officials. We help shape national retirement policy by developing and advancing positions on critical issues that affect plan sponsors, participants, service providers, and investment providers. Our members include record keepers, mutual fund companies, brokerage firms, insurance companies, banks, consultants, trade clearing firms and investment managers. Our members play a key role in identifying our priorities and in developing the positions we take on critical issues. Collectively, our membership services approximately 100 million employer- sponsored participants.
What it reported doing in 2024
Shape national retirement policy providing research, education, testimony and comments on pending legislative and regulatory issues to members of congress and relevant government agency officials. Our members play a key role in identifying our priorities and in developing the positions we take on critical issues.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 98% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and revenue has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 73
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 39
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 80.7%; rating input score 81
- Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.1%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.24; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 33.9%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 80.7% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $540K · 15 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 55/100.