Three walls, described here because a nonprofit that does not describe them usually does not have them.
Wall one: money does not buy information
No supporter, at any level, gets access to what CareGuard collects or what Valor Medica knows about a patient. This is not a policy the foundation could waive if it wanted to. CareGuard’s patient safety work product is protected by federal statute; Valor Medica’s clinical information is protected health information. Neither is available as a benefit of supporting the foundation.
This matters most in the case a nonprofit rarely writes down: a facility owner, or someone with an interest in a facility, who becomes a supporter. The answer is the same as for anyone else, and the reason it is the same is that it is federal law rather than our discretion.
Wall two: money does not buy a finding
CareGuard reviews what it reviews. A supporter cannot commission a favorable review, suppress an unfavorable one, or direct attention toward or away from a particular facility. If that were purchasable, the entire program would be worthless — and a Patient Safety Organization’s value rests on it not being purchasable.
Wall three: programs do not flow to the foundation
It would be convenient for a parent organization to read everything its programs hold. It cannot. Protected information stays inside the program that collected it. What travels upward is whether a program is doing what it says it does, not the content of what it found. How the programs relate →
What a supporter does get
- A straight answer about where money would go and what it would change.
- A receipt and the deductibility statement, because sevadar foundation inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, ein 93-2840861. contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
- The right to ask a hard question and get an honest answer, including “we do not know yet.”
- Notice if a restricted gift cannot be used as restricted — before it is spent, not after. Questions about giving →
Conflicts we can name now
- The founder funds the organization he directs. That is the central concentration and this site states it on every relevant page rather than burying it. How we are funded.
- The founder is a practicing physician. His clinical practice is separate from this foundation. The foundation does not refer to it, market it, or receive anything from it. About the founder.
- The founder holds a role at a partner organization. He is Chief Medical Officer of Valor Villages Inc., a separate 501(c)(3) whose medical arm Valor Medica is described as being. Two organizations, two EINs, one person overlapping. The distinction.
Questions
Does Sevadar Foundation accept money from nursing home operators?
The question a reader is really asking is whether a facility could buy a clean review, and the answer is no — for the reason in wall two above. Any relationship between a PSO and a provider it also contracts with is subject to federal disclosure requirements, which is a good example of a rule that exists precisely because the conflict is foreseeable. Read more: What a Patient Safety Organization actually does.
Does the foundation pay the founder?
The asset lock in the articles prohibits distributing the corporation’s assets to a private person, and compensation arrangements for officers of an exempt organization are reportable on the annual return. Annual filings. Read more: One foundation, three programs.
Can I earmark a gift for a single program?
Ask first. A restriction the foundation cannot honor is worse for both sides than a conversation beforehand. Read more: Restricted gifts, and why we ask first.