Massachusetts · Nonprofit
National Scoliosis Foundation Inc
National Scoliosis Foundation Inc (Massachusetts) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $134,428 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($58,600). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 69% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2023
- $52k
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $134k
- Net assets
- $-13771
What National Scoliosis Foundation Inc does
Mission
To promote the detection and elimination of the crippling effects of Scoliosis through increased public awareness, training and development.
As stated on its FY2023 Form 990.
Programs
Patient Centered Information and Education - Through our website, newsletters, videos, books, support groups, patient conferences, and telephone consulations we strive to ensure thousands of children and families receive the help and hope they need to make critical health care decisions, and avoid the worst effects of progressive spinal deformity.
$15,605 spent35% of program spendingScoliosis Awareness - Unites scoliosis patients, families, physicians, and clinicians in a collaborative partnership to create a positive publicawareness, education, and advocacy campaign through a grassroots network of local activities, events and media impressions throughout the year.June is designated as Scoliosis Awareness Month, and together with ourpartner, the Scoliosis Research Society, we strive to receivelegislative Proclamations in every state. Key information can providepatients, parents and their children with a better understanding of thesigns and symptoms of scoliosis, and where to get help. This in turn canhelp the healthcare system to be more effective and less costly. Community and grassroots events, such as health seminars and support groups, encourage the sharing of personal stories and connect patients so that no family affected by scoliosis goes through the experience alone. More importantly, through this program we strive to reach our ultimate goal to find the cause, prevention and cure of this spinal deformity, which burdens children, adults, families, and society at large.
$15,549 spent35% of program spendingSMARTT Institute (Scoliosis Management Alternatives, Research, Treatmentand Training) - The Institute is the incarnation of our mission, and isdedicated to finding SMARTT ways to stop the vicious cycle of scoliosisprogression and the resultant health complications, by focusing on globalsolutions as well as the individual needs of each person. SMARTTs medicaland clinical staff provides the following services;- Early Detection: school screening, re-screening and monitoring- Education: comprehensive information for patients and healthcareprofessionals; training of school nurses and physical education teachers in screening procedures; organizing courses in conservative scoliosistreatment methods.-Early Intervention Methods: In cooperation with the patients doctor,provide an understanding of the individual patients deformity, and teachthem the treatment options, corrective and ergonomic behaviors in activities of daily living (ADL), and other information to avoid orminimize future health complications.-Research: Global search and collaboration with scientists, physicians and clinicians to provide evidenced based support and enhancements for non-invasive examination tools and…
$8,691 spent20% of program spendingAngel Brigade - The Angel Brigade is a special group of young positiveminded active patients who are working as Ambassadors to tell their storyand promote the importance of early detection, treatment and research. Wehope to educate, encourage and empower these patients to provide peer topeer support and outreach activities in their local area. Together, with the young leaders we seek to build a national network of volunteer service for the scoliosis community and an educational pathway for a new generation of scoliosis leaders in all walks of life. We plan to attract and identify these potential next generation of leaders through referrals from physicians and clinicians, and by introducing an Angel Brigade regional scholarship program for high school juniors preparing for college.
$4,677 spent11% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2022 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $44,522.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $25k to $3k (−89%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Joseph P OBrien
President & CEO
Board chair
W Hugh Morton
Chairman of Board
As listed on its FY2023 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 3 funders, grant income fell $12k → $9k.
4 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 69% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of National Scoliosis Foundation Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
National Scoliosis Foundation Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 44% of grant income and the top three 84%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
69% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund National Scoliosis Foundation Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 43% · 2018 47% · 2019 47% · 2020 62% · 2021 48% · 2022 100% · 2023 70% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
11% of National Scoliosis Foundation Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
69% of National Scoliosis Foundation Inc's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $42k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Massachusetts, across 7 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $92k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Organizations like National Scoliosis Foundation Inc
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for National Scoliosis Foundation Inc: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds National Scoliosis Foundation Inc?
- National Scoliosis Foundation Inc (Massachusetts) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $134,428 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($58,600). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 69% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does National Scoliosis Foundation Inc have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $134,428 in grants to National Scoliosis Foundation Inc, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of National Scoliosis Foundation Inc?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $58,600 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like National Scoliosis Foundation Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds National Scoliosis →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2023 (financials across 2018–2023), and the filings of 13 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing