Aiaa Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
541827596
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Reston, VA, USA
Phone
7032647500
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,479,316
Expenses
$1,090,021
Assets
$23,017,664
Liabilities
$316,533

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DANIEL L DUMBACHER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/SECRETARY (OUTGOING FY25))
  • EUGENE MOWRY (CEO/SECRETARY (INCOMING FY25))
  • DANIEL HASTINGS (AIAA PRESIDENT)
  • LAURA MCGILL (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
  • DANA KEOKI JACKSON (AIAA PRESIDENT-ELECT (INCOMING FY25))

Highest reported compensation

  • DANIEL L DUMBACHER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/SECRETARY (OUTGOING FY25)): $502,731 total reported compensation
  • KAREN ROSENBLUM (SVP, FINANCE, ADMIN & CFO (OUTGOING FY25)): $382,994 total reported compensation
  • MERRIE SCOTT (SVP, MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT): $248,709 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The purpose of the aiaa foundation, in conjunction with aiaa, is to promote education and recognize excellence within the aerospace community by inspiring and supporting the next generation of aerospace professionals, practicing aerospace professionals, and the institutions engaged in aerospace education and practice.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education - the aiaa foundation promotes educational advancement and technical excellence in the aerospace community by providing financial support for undergraduate and graduate scholarships, student technical paper conferences, aerospace design competitions, and awards recognizing outstanding achievement in various aerospace fields. The foundation also promotes stem activity at the k12 and collegiate levels, provides grants and achievement awards to stem educators, and provides recognition platforms for significant aerospace technical and community contributions.all scholarships, awards, and design competition recipients are selected by independent panels of subject matter experts. During fy25, the foundation awarded 30 scholarships and graduate awards, presented 16 professional awards, supported 7 student conferences, supported 17 design competitions, recognized 31 rising stars in aerospace, and issued 89 educator grants and awards.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 72% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 61% for direct work, and 39% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.4%; rating input score 87
  • Program expense ratio: 74.2%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.64 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 76.8%; rating input score 77; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 26.3%; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 21.12; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 113.9%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.7% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.7% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.4% of revenue deployed · 74.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $809K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $503K · 14 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 25 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 11 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.