Vitalant

Legal name: Vitalant Group Return

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
811084129
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2018
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2018
Location
Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Phone
877-258-4825
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Blood Supply Related

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$98,154,806
Expenses
$100,787,166
Assets
$33,306,737
Liabilities
$14,190,201

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Frederick Axelrod MD (Trustee/CEO/Pres/Sec - LS)
  • DENNIS M TODD PHD (PRESIDENT/CEO - BCRBC)

Highest reported compensation

  • DAVID GREEN (TRUSTEE - BCRBC): $746,019 total reported compensation
  • Frederick Axelrod MD (Trustee/CEO/Pres/Sec - LS): $446,248 total reported compensation
  • DENNIS M TODD PHD (PRESIDENT/CEO - BCRBC): $435,150 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2018. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To save and improve lives by providing essential blood products, clinical services, medical consultation, and innovative research.

What it reported doing in 2018

See schedule o for further detail.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 99% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.5%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 82.5%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st 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: 97.4%; rating input score 97; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 86.7%; rating input score 87; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.7%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.33; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.43; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.3%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -34.5% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 84.5% of revenue deployed · 82.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $83.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $746K · 26 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $8.1M reported
  • Consistency: 40 of 41 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2017 to 2018
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 filed related-organization links
  • 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: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.