Road Scholar
Overview
Mission
At not-for-profit Road Scholar, our mission is to inspire adults to learn, discover and travel. Road Scholar is not a traditional travel company. We’re a not-for-profit organization —and we have been ever since our founding in 1975. That not-for-profit status means we can put learning first in our decision-making. It allows us to keep costs low and to offer valuable programs that aren’t driven by revenue. It makes it possible to provide scholarships that help offset costs so that financial constraints don’t pose a barrier to participation. And it means we can dedicate resources to the research and advancement of lifelong learning. Learn how you can help support our mission through giving 9.0.
What it reported doing in 2024
Our 110-seat Participant Services Center handled over 285,000 inbound telephone calls and made approximately 34,000 outbound telephone calls to inquirers and enrollees that resulted in over 76,000 enrollment, cancellation, transfer and contribution transactions. They also responded to over 76,000 emails. In addition, the 56-seat Travel Services Center handled over 62,000 inbound telephone calls and made over 26,000 outbound calls to enrollees who desired assistance in making, changing or cancelling their travel flight arrangements to Road Scholar programs. This team also responded to over 6,000 emails and booked over 129,000 flight segments for enrolled participants.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The nonprofit carried out 100% of its reported program work directly.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 042632526
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Website reviewed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Headquarters
- Boston, MA, USA
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Human Services
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 78
- Transparency & Controls: 64
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 57
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 81.8%; rating input score 82
- Program expense ratio: 92.6%; rating input score 93
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
- Public monitoring controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public policy transparency: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public financial transparency: 0 of 5 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Impact reporting controls: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Public relationship transparency: No; rating input score 0
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Public governance controls: 2 of 4 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Zakat policy transparency: Limited
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 10.1%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Operating reserve ratio: 0.96; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.52; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.4%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 81.8% of revenue deployed · 92.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $371.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.4M · 24 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 46 of 47 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
- Money network: 12 filed money-flow records