American Center for Mongolian Studies

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
550799211
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Phone
2503912600
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Anthropology, Sociology

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$468,688
Expenses
$505,194
Assets
$857,759
Liabilities
$10,794

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Paula Depriest (President, Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Maggie Lindrooth (US Director): $25,000 total reported compensation
  • Charles Kusekopf (Board Member, Director (Fo): $18,000 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 American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS) is an academic organization promoting scholarship and research about, and in, Mongolia. The organization provides support services to students and faculty conducting study or research in Mongolia at its full-service resource center and library in Mongolia. The Organization also conducts a variety of public outreach and educational activities, including lectures and language training.

What it reported doing in 2024

Resource Center and Library in Mongolia -ACMS maintained a fully staffed resource center and research library in Ulaanbaatar, providing access to a multilingual collection of more than 5,000 titles and research support to scholars and students from Mongolia and abroad. ACMS conducted library-related outreach and professional activities during the year, including World Book Day programming, librarian knowledge-sharing events, and the release of Mongolia's first Mongolian-language MARC 21 cataloging guideline. ACMS also supported major cultural heritage initiatives, including activities associated with a U.S. Ambassador-funded manuscript conservation project at the National Library of Mongolia.

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 81% 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 72.6%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -7.8%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.7; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.5%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.6% of revenue deployed · 72.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $367K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $25K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.