Afghan-American Community Organization

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN: 823792356
IRS 990 coverage: 2022–2024
Forms available: Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
Phone: 5104499601
Rating: 75
Verdict: SUPPORTED
Rating confidence: Moderate
Sector: Educational Services and Schools - Other

Reported finances

Revenue: $306,716
Expenses: $465,707
Assets: $214,579
Liabilities: $0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Highest reported compensation

Omar Aziz (Executive Dir.): $94,092 total reported compensation
Homaira Hosseini (Director): $53,250 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To advance the Afghan-American community and its allies through education and outreach, and promote civic and social engagement.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, AACO hosted its 9th annual Afghan-American Conference (AAC) in San Diego, CA, attracting over 500 participants from 28 states and 6 countries. The 2024 conference featured 54 sessions led by 110 expert facilitators, covering topics such as civic engagement, identity, and professional development. A pre/post survey conducted by Dr. Nura Sediqe demonstrated the conference's impact, showing a 71% increase in participants' reported sense of belonging. The event provided a safe space for candid dialogue, professional development, and relationship-building across various learning blocks. An addition to the 2024 program was the inaugural Alumni Summit, which included service activities that provided school supplies and footwear to newly arrived Afghan families, demonstrating the organization's commitment to supporting recent immigrants within the diaspora community. Since 2015, AACO has engaged thousands of participants, serving as a valuable forum for empowering Afghan-Americans and addressing pressing issues within the diaspora community. The conference continues to foster an inclusive environment and facilitate meaningful connections across the Afghan-American diaspora. Beyond the annual conference, AACO continues to organize regional events throughout the year, engaging community members nationwide.

Operating model

Revenue model: Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model: Direct operator. The filing allocates 80% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

Financial Efficiency: 83
Transparency & Controls: 85
Accountability: 62
Sustainability: 20
Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
Program expense ratio: 82.7%; rating input score 83
Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Pay-setting controls: Limited
Foreign activity oversight: Limited
Grant itemization coverage: 81.6%; rating input score 82; 49th percentile among comparable filings
Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

Operating margin: -51.8%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.46; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 31.6%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

Program expense growth: -17.2% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 21.7% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: 28.4% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 82.7% of spending went to programs
Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $385K in reported program spending
Leadership: top reported pay $94K · 7 people listed
Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
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.

Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.