The Whispering Hope Ranch Foundation C/o Child Crisis Arizona

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
860887696
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Mesa, AZ, USA
Phone
4808349424
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Health - General and Rehabilitative N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$69,290
Expenses
$5,284,488
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAUL DYKSTRA (PRESIDENT)
  • STEVEN STRALSER PHD (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ADAM MAYS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JAN VESSA (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • KERI PICK (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JOANNA ZUCKER (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BLYTHE SWEENEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR STARTED 8/23): $56,500 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Offering children with special needs & their families rustic, Arizona ranch style camp & retreat experiences enhanced by programs designed to foster nurturing interactions between campers & animals at the ranch.

What it reported doing in 2023

Whrf serves a diverse population of children, adults, and families from throughout the state of az who cope with what are often life-altering or life-limiting conditions. Guests served by whrf face challenges such as abuse and neglect, autism, brain injury, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, heart disease, hemiplegia, kidney disease, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord abnormality or injury, visual impairment and the loss of a sibling or parent. Whrf is a host facility, providing weeklong camps, weekend retreats and day programs in collaboration with our growing family of non-profit partnering organizations. Since 1999, whrf has partnered with more than 50 non-profit organizations to provide transformational experiences for those living with any type of physical, medical, emotional, or intellectual challenge.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 76% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 94% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - 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: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 4
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 97.1%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.43 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7,526.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.1%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.7% per year; rating input score 0; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -7.8% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 97.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $56K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 19/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.