American Bus Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
530114680
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2028421645
Rating
42
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,987,144
Expenses
$5,559,683
Assets
$8,925,263
Liabilities
$7,301,809

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

Leadership & pay

49 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PETER J PANTUSO (PRES/CEO END)
  • FRED FERGUSON (PRES.CEO -ST)

Highest reported compensation

  • PETER J PANTUSO (PRES/CEO END): $504,080 total reported compensation
  • ERIC BRAENDEL (CFO): $369,260 total reported compensation
  • SUZANNE ROHDE (VP GOVT AFFA): $323,673 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Travel choice, fill in intermodal gaps in the network of transportation services, educate groups of all ages through experiential trips that take them to iconic and historical destinations, and to infuse tourism dollars into every attraction a group tour visits by bus. Aba also seeks to educate policy-makers, the media and consumers about the attributes of motorcoach travel as the safest, greenest, most cost-effective and hassle-free transportation choice.

What it reported doing in 2024

The american bus marketplace is the premier business event for the group travel industry. The appointments are the core of the show; which allow buyers and sellers to meet face-to-face in prescheduled seven-minute appointments. In addition to the quality appointments, marketplace offers professional education seminars and numerous networking opportunities. Additionally, the product pavilion, offers operators the opportunity to view the industry's latest products and services. Associate members can now showcase their products and services on the exhibit floor to the more than 320 operator companies who attend marketplace. With the addition of the product pavilion, marketplace is a one-stop shop for the group travel and motorcoach industry to build business relationships, conduct one-to-one business appointments, view the newest products and services, learn about the latest trends and industry information, and network - all resulting in providing our members with a greater return on investment. Buyers who are bus owners and tour operators, come to meet with sellers who are travel industry representatives from destination marketing organizations (cities, areas, states), attractions, restaurants, receptive operators, hotels and associate service suppliers. These business sessions allow buyers and sellers to plan trip itineraries for motorcoach group travel throughout the us and canada.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 88% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 78
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.5%; rating input score 95; 26th 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: Pass
    • 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: -39.4%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.61; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.82; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 34.7%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: -0.7% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 42 of 44 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $504K · 49 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 15 of 16 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.
  • 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: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 4/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.