Albany Research Institute Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
141716021
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Albany, NY, USA
Phone
5186265618
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,964,829
Expenses
$2,063,552
Assets
$1,389,494
Liabilities
$199,242

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DON HIGGINS MD (PRESIDENT)
  • SOPHIA PALLONE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • SOPHIA PALLONE (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $142,500 total reported compensation
  • JIAOJIE QU (DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $104,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our purpose is to provide a flexible mechanism that allows non-va funding for research projects approved by the va; research activities, including basic and applied biomedical research, clinical trials, behavioral research, neural engineering, data science, and artificial intelligence.

What it reported doing in 2025

Grants are received from the u.s. Government, private corporations as well as New York state which are then directed to conduct research in diverse clinical areas, including, but not limited to spinal cord injury, color vision deficiency, stroke, diabetes, kidney, parkinson's, alzheimer's and heart disease and genomics.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 71% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.3%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 75.2%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: -5%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.67; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.9%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.9% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.5% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.3% of revenue deployed · 75.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $142K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.