American Action Network
Legal name: American Action Network Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 270730508
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2025596420
- Rating
- 89
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Human Service Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $57,008,925
- Expenses
- $74,225,611
- Assets
- $17,414,539
- Liabilities
- $5,536,518
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Daniel Conston (President-left 121524)
- Chris Winkelman (President-took office 12162024)
Highest reported compensation
- Daniel Conston (President-left 121524): $1,201,804 total reported compensation
- Domenic Re (Director of Polling): $314,046 total reported compensation
- Meredith Allen (Issue Advocacy Director): $225,856 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Create, encourage and promote center-right policies based on the principles of freedom, limited government, American exceptionalism, and strong national security.
What it reported doing in 2024
American Action Network conducted extensive issue advocacy and grassroots mobilization, utilizing a range of strategies such as television advertising, direct mail, automated phone calls, digital advocacy, public opinion surveys, and grants to allied organizations. Our efforts primarily focused on nationwide advocacy urging Congress to implement policies to lower the cost of living and fight inflation through reduced regulation and less government spending, as well as significant efforts calling for commonsense border security measures. Additionally, we advocated other key policies and legislation aligned with center-right principles related to energy, healthcare, government shutdowns, and federal spending issues.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 48% for direct work, and 52% for grants.
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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 94
- Transparency & Controls: 93
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 13
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 94.4%; rating input score 94
- Fundraising efficiency: $30.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: -30.2%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.2%; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 94.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $70.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.2M · 12 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $30.9M reported
- Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 21 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.
- 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 2/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 35/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.