Financial Reports

The following pie charts summarize expenses and donations for 2021. Links to our IRS Form 990s, the IRS form for non-profit financial disclosures, can be found below.

Expenses

Brain Support Network Program expenses (brain donations, web site, events) constitute the bulk of Brain Support Network’s (BSN’s) expenses at 90.3% of total in 2021.  Part-time staff (working from home) who help families with brain donation arrangements is our single largest program expense.

Program expenses are lower than you would expect because much of our work is accomplished by volunteers.  Hundreds of volunteer hours are given each month to BSN by dozens of part-time volunteers. Volunteers handle important tasks, such as coordinating Support Group discussions, sharing thought-provoking blog posts, assessing disorder-specific resources for our Top Resources sheets, and keeping up with research. All members of our Board of Directors are unpaid for their work in that capacity.

Expenses 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Program Expenses 27% 82% 89% 89% 92% 72% 78% 82% 90% 90%
Management Expenses 72% 13% 8% 8% 7% 24% 10% 17% 10% 9%
Fundraising Expenses 2% 5% 3% 3% 1% 5% 3% 2% 2% 1%

Our events are planned and staffed by volunteers. Thanks to the generosity of our medical community collaborators, we rarely compensate (or pay the transportation costs of) persons to speak at our events.

BSN could not execute its mission without the commitment of our staff and volunteers. They allow much work to be done at very low cost. At the same time, BSN could not exist without the generosity of our donors without whom the infrastructure and scale of the organization could not be maintained.

Management expenses, at 8.5% of total, consist of accounting fees, insurance premiums, office supplies, postage, and a post office box. These expenses make possible the work of several part-time employees and dozens of volunteers.

Fundraising expenses amount to 1.2% of our expenses, where major items are credit card processing fees and printing memorial flyers to honor brain donors.

These memorial flyers are used by families who have donated a loved one’s brain as a way to educate friends and family as to the journey they’ve been on and to raise awareness about brain donation. We are especially grateful to these families for helping raise funds to make possible brain donation arrangements for the next family. Brain Support Network does not use any outside (“Professional”) fundraising organizations.

 

Donors and Donations

In 2021, our average donation was $275 and our median donation was $50.

Individual Donors and Donations

Special Gifts and Bequests

Brain Support Network occasionally receives donations from individuals that are directed to research for a particular disorder as well as bequests to help further our three missions. These are one-time gifts to Brain Support Network.

Special Gifts and Bequests 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
 Special Gifts and Bequests $56K $9K $13K  $30K $21K $36K $13K $403K $122K $188K
 Number of Special Gifts and Bequests 4 3 3 4 4 9 3 14 5 9
Other Individual Donations

In 2021 Brain Support Network received 69.5% of its funding from individual donors excluding special gifts and bequests. We saw a 13.2% increase in the number of individual donations in 2021.

Other Individual Donations 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Other Individual Donations Total $6K $50K $85K $102K $109K $138K $144K $147K $229K $174K
Number of Other Individual Donations 32 361 472 500 744 774 877 1,100 1,343 1,521
Average Other Individual Donation $187 $139 $139 $204 $147 $178 $164 $134 $171 $114

Corporate/Governmental Donors and Donations

In 2021 Brain Support Network received 17.4% of its funding from institutional donors.

Institutional Donors and Donations 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Institutional Donations Total $0 $2k $3k $6k $7k $18k $16k $14k $13k $76k
Number of Institutional Donations 0 1 6 25 20 28 56 53 48 67
Average Institutional Donation $0 $2k $500 $240 $350 $643 $286 $264 $271 $1,136

In 2021, donors in the corporate/governmental category were all corporations.

From All Sources

Median and average donation sizes from all sources reflect the predominance of individual donations.

Donations from All Sources 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Median Donations $80 $75 $100 $100 $50 $100 $75 $50 $50 $70
Average Donations $1,714 $169 $212 $263 $179 $237 $185 $483 $261 $281

Highest Paid Directors and Employees

In addition to summaries of donations and expenses, the IRS requires disclosure of the highest paid members of the Board of Directors and the highest paid employees. Two members of the BSN’s Board of Directors are also employees, and are paid strictly for their work as employees: Robin Riddle is CEO and Steven Russell is Director of Finance. Robin Riddle is one of two full-time employees of Brain Support Network.

Annual Gross Salary of the Highest-Paid 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Board of Directors $0 $0 $0 $0 $0* $0* $0* $0* $0* $0*
Employees None $2,503 $17,683 $19,532 $16,695 $16,665 $22,478 $44,231 $68,462 $83,462

* Robin Riddle and Steven Russell receive no compensation for their Board duties but do receive compensation for their work as employees.

IRS Form 990s

Each year BSN reports financials to the IRS to maintain our 501(c)(3) non-profit status. Links to our IRS Form 990s, the IRS for non-profit financial disclosures, follow. Because we are small, our accounting firm puts us (naturally) at the back of the queue. For this reason, our 990s are generally submitted to the IRS in the last month (December) of the following year.

2022

Brain Support Network will submit its IRS Form 990 for calendar year 2022 in December 2023, and publish it at that time.

2021

Brain Support Network IRS Form 990 for calendar year 2021

2020

Brain Support Network IRS Form 990 for calendar year 2020.

2019

Brain Support Network IRS Form 990 for calendar year 2019.

2018

Brain Support Network IRS Form 990 for calendar year 2018.

2017

Brain Support Network IRS Form 990 for calendar year 2017.

2016

Brain Support Network IRS Form 990 for calendar year 2016.

2015

Brain Support Network IRS Form 990 for calendar year 2015.

2014

Brain Support Network IRS Form 990 for calendar year 2014.

2013

Brain Support Network IRS Form 990 for calendar year 2013.

2012

In our first year of operations as a non-profit, we did not meet the thresholds required for a full tax return. Instead, we submitted the required “postcard”: Brain Support Network IRS Form 990N (postcard) for calendar year 2012.