American Association of Airport Executives

Legal name: Airport Research & Development Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521594261
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Alexandria, VA, US
Phone
703.824.0504
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$100,567,015
Expenses
$100,573,680
Assets
$8,932,470
Liabilities
$11,213,337

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TODD HAUPTLI (PRESIDENT AN)

Highest reported compensation

  • TODD HAUPTLI (PRESIDENT AN): $3,277,475 total reported compensation
  • JOEL BACON (EVP GOV'T/PU): $1,064,614 total reported compensation
  • CARTER MORRIS (EVP AAAE SER): $1,000,560 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 support the airport industry through professional development, education, and research initiatives that enhance the skills and knowledge of airport professionals.

What it reported doing in 2024

App-based transportation (abt) refers to so-called "ride-share" companies such as uber, sidecar and lyft, as well as limos and app-based taxi services who provide on-demand transportation services to individuals via a smartphone app. Ardf's abt program allows the airport to collect the requisite ground transportation fees, have necessary permitting in place to limit liability and allow their travelers to fully leverage the convenience of abt. In return, beginning in 2016, ardf collects administrative services fees from the airports for these services, which include collecting and remitting all fees on the airport's behalf.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 87% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 47
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

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

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 33.3%; rating input score 33; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.09; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.26; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.6%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.7% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $100.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $3.3M · 6 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $112K reported
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 33/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 3/100.