Veterans Medical Research Foundation of San Diego

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
330189397
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Phone
8586423070
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Medical Disciplines Research

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$16,030,812
Expenses
$16,560,898
Assets
$4,790,926
Liabilities
$4,476,998

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARIA SITTMANN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARIA SITTMANN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO): $405,278 total reported compensation
  • ADAM CASSIUS (CFO): $259,642 total reported compensation
  • RUTH M HARBECKE (RESEARCH ASSOCIATE): $175,908 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Honoring military service with science; our bench-to-bedside approach has led to breakthroughs in areas such as shingles prevention, heart disease, metabolic diseases and ground breaking work on post-traumatic stress disorder.

What it reported doing in 2024

Dr. Norman clinical effectiveness and implementation of massed pro: over twenty well-controlled clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy and effectiveness of prolonged exposure (pe) for ptsd, including several with service members and veterans. Pe is a time-limited (about 12 session) psychotherapy that helps people change trauma-related cognitions such as "the world is completely dangerous and "i am incompetent" through in-vivo exposure to trauma reminders and imaginal exposure to the trauma memory. Over time, exposure to these avoided but safe stimuli helps patients reduce their belief in their trauma-related cognitions which is associated with recovery from ptsd. In one of the largest study of pe to date, pe resulted in large effect sizes with 73% of patients responding to treatment and 40% losing their ptsd diagnosis. Pe has been shown to be effective with a variety of complex and comorbid populations and all five major u.s. And international clinical practice guidelines for ptsd treatment give pe their highest rating. Given the strength of this evidence, pe has been implemented in multiple healthcare systems over the past decade, such as the department of defense (dod), veterans affairs (va). Unfortunately, patients with current comorbid substance use disorders (sud) have been historically excluded from ptsd treatment trials, slowing their spread into sud treatment settings and leaving pe largely unavailable to those with arguably the greatest need.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 75% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 available resources goes toward mission work. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.7%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 71.4%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.3%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.29; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.93; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.5%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.3% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -4% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.7% of revenue deployed · 71.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $11.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $405K · 19 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $335K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.