The Armory Foundation

Overview

Mission

The armory foundation, a nyc not-for-profit and home to the premier indoor track and field center in america, is committed to fostering lifelong health and learning by serving youth, high school students, college students, adults and local seniors through track & field, educational and wellness programs. The armory foundation's primary emphasis is reaching and motivating the youth of all five boroughs of New York city by offering them competitive track and field activities and broadening their horizons with educational classes, college preparation programs and a variety of cultural and school-coordinated educational activities. The armory foundation hosts over 105 track events each year, maintains the national track and field hall of fame, operates the largest afterschool activity center in New York and offers a variety of community support programs in its world class facility.

What it reported doing in 2024

High school training: up to 2,000 New York city students train at the armory, tuesdays and thursdays from november to april on the fabled armory track. Training includes a supplemental coaching staff paid by the armory to help students develop their skills. Most students have coaches who are fluent in one of the events of track and field. Only very few of them are experts in throwing, pole vaulting, hurdles or even race-walking. In order to provide the best possible experience, the armory brings in these coaches. Youth training: in a normal year, as many as 500 students in grades 2-8 from Washington heights, inwood and harlem train at the armory mondays and wednesdays from october to may in the city track, and little feet programs. Full coaching staff is provided to the children to teach the basics of track and field and ensure the children have plenty of fun at the same time. The armory has structured exercise and health-related programming twice per week, year-round, for community seniors.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% 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.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133680286
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2129231803
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,258,950
Expenses
$10,221,126
Assets
$12,025,473
Liabilities
$19,217,343

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

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 17
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 90.6%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.2%; rating input score 88; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -23.8%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.18; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.6; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 19.2%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 90.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 17 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 10 filed program accomplishments · $9.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $447K · 26 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $858K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 16 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JONATHAN B SCHINDEL (CO-PRESIDENT): $447,140 total reported compensation
  • RITA M FINKEL (CO-PRESIDENT): $445,885 total reported compensation
  • GLENNIS A AQUINO-GIL (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $238,773 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024.