Womens Sports Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237380557
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
6468450273
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$15,001,728
Expenses
$7,457,864
Assets
$17,602,639
Liabilities
$1,099,558

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

Leadership & pay

42 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MEGHAN DUGGAN (PAST PRESIDENT, CHAIR ADVOCACY)
  • SCOUT BASSETT (PRESIDENT)
  • DANETTE LEIGHTON (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DANETTE LEIGHTON (CEO): $572,713 total reported compensation
  • OLGA HARVEY (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $243,398 total reported compensation
  • KAREN ISSOKSON-SILVER (VP, RESEARCH AND EDUCATION): $215,333 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We are a powerful voice and catalyst for ensuring all girls and women have equal access to physical activity and sports and the benefits they provide.

What it reported doing in 2024

Community impact: engagement & retention of girls in sports is a top priority. We provide tools and technical assistance to support coaches, parents, and community leaders to strengthen recruitment, engagement & quality of programming for girls. Our sports 4 life program that helps increase participation & retention of girls from underresourced communities in developmental youth sports programs. Our digital platform - we play interactive - is a resource for coaches to help girls discover joy from playing sports. Travel and training fund provides women athletes with potential to be elite with funding to reduce their financial obstacles. Athlete ambassador program engages elite athletes as role models to inspire girls.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 82% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 52
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 38.6%; rating input score 39
  • Program expense ratio: 75.6%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: 99.2%; rating input score 99; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 97.1%; rating input score 97; 31st 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: 50.3%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.36; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.4%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 38.6% of revenue deployed · 75.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 33 of 34 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $573K · 42 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 75 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 66 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.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.