American Association of Variable Star Ob

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042164402
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Cambridge, MA, USA
Phone
6173540484
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Astronomy

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,682,737
Expenses
$1,276,217
Assets
$20,337,952
Liabilities
$281,518

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DR BRIAN KLOPPENBORG (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • RICHARD BERRY (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DR BRIAN KLOPPENBORG (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $211,904 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 aavso, through its members and the broader astronomical community, conducts astronomical research, does data collection, maintains a database of known variable stars, a database of individual observations measuring bright of stars in various colors, a database of exoplanet observations, a database of sunspot counts, and a database of spectrographs. The aavso has about 1,400 members, the majority of which contribute astronomical observations. The variable star database has 2 million known variable stars. There are about 65 million brightness observations, 8 thousand exo-planet transits, 15 thousand spectra, and 181 thousand solar observations. The aavso organizes observing campaigns or provides a platform for professional astronomers to request monitoring of stars for spacecraft missions. The aavso has about 30 of these campaigns each year. The observations and databases are cited in about 300 research articles each year.

What it reported doing in 2024

The aavso, through its members and the broader astronomical community, conducts astronomical research, does data collection, maintains a database of known variable stars, a database of individual observations measuring bright of stars in various colors, a database of exoplanet observations, a database of sunspot counts, and a database of spectrographs. The aavso has about 1,200 members, the majority of which contribute astronomical observations. The variable star database has almost 11 million known variable stars. There are about 74 million brightness observations, 14 thousand exo-planet transits, 18 thousand spectra, and 292 thousand solar observations. The aavso organizes observing campaigns or provides a platform for professional astronomers to request monitoring of stars for spacecraft missions. The aavso has about 30 of these campaigns each year. The observations and databases are cited in about 300 research articles each year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 60.4%; rating input score 60
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 24.2%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 15.94; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.6%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91% of revenue deployed · 60.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $771K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $212K · 15 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.