Admiral Nimitz Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
741492692
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Fredericksburg, TX, USA
Phone
8309978600
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$18,303,829
Expenses
$16,789,775
Assets
$36,680,384
Liabilities
$973,321

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEVEN L SALAZAR (FORMER PRESIDENT/CEO [THRU 07/25])
  • RORIE CARTIER PHD (PRESIDENT/CEO [FROM 10/25])
  • GEN MICHAEL W HAGEE USMC RET (FORMER PRESIDENT/CEO [7/25 - 10/25])

Highest reported compensation

  • STEVEN L SALAZAR (FORMER PRESIDENT/CEO [THRU 07/25]): $341,138 total reported compensation
  • GARY R NEFFENDORF (CFO): $87,417 total reported compensation
  • RORIE CARTIER PHD (PRESIDENT/CEO [FROM 10/25]): $71,826 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Operate and support the state-owned museum experience through its extensive collection to educate and inspire present and future generations about world war ii in the asiatic pacific theater and the relevance of its lessons and the effects worldwide.

What it reported doing in 2025

Museum support: the organization oversees and manages, under agreement with the Texas historical commission, the national museum of the pacific war. Visitation attendance in 2025 was 108,000.in addition to ordinary operations during 2025, admiral nimitz foundation renovated and expanded the bush gallery and started planning for an expansion of the education department.

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.

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.6%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 92.6%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $30.49 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • 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: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.3%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.18; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.3%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.9% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.6% of revenue deployed · 92.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 19 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $15.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $341K · 21 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $8.3M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.