Form 990-PF
Internal Revenue Service Form 990-PF contains additional financial information about the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (‘the Foundation’), including data about the Foundation’s assets, investments, and charitable expenses. Private foundations are required to file this form annually.
The Foundation’s 2008 990-PF core return begins on page 19 of this document. The Foundation's complete tax returns for years 2001-2008, which include all schedules, statements and attachements (350 pages) are available on the Foundation Center Web site at: http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990s/990search/ffindershow.cgi?id=JOHN015. Complete tax returns are also available on the Guidestar Web site, http://www.guidestar.org. Guidestar is a nonprofit organization that gathers and publicizes data on over 1.5 million nonprofit organizations nationwide. The Guidestar Web site provides additional background on using and interpreting the information contained in Forms 990 that may differ from an organization’s annual audited financial statements.
For example, for some private foundations, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, “direct charitable activities” are reported differently on Form 990-PF than in audited financial statements. Direct charitable activities are charitable efforts undertaken by a foundation directly, rather than through grants awarded to other not-for-profit organizations. The expenses of these direct activities conducted by the Foundation are included as part of our administrative and operating expenses on line 24. Our grantmaking is reported on line 25. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s direct charitable activities, as detailed on the last page accompanying our core 2008 Form 990-PF, include programs to:
- improve the quality and equality of health care in specific regions of the U.S.,
- improve the health of the most vulnerable populations in our country,
- reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity,
- promote access to health insurance coverage; and
- evitalize eroded public health systems in the U.S.
A public charity or foundation’s organizational efficiency may be measured in part by calculating the percentage of the organization’s total disbursements spent on administrative expenses. The cost of a private foundation’s direct charitable activities should be excluded from the operating and administrative expense total when making this calculation, because direct charitable activities are not administrative expenses, but costs incurred to advance directly a foundation’s charitable purpose. Viewed this way, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s 2008 administrative expenses (the total on line 24(d) minus direct charitable activities, as recorded on page 1 of Form 990-PF), are approximately 10% of the Foundation’s total disbursements for charitable purposes. Grantmaking and direct charitable activities constituted approximately 90% of the Foundation’s charitable expenses during 2008.