American Endowment Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 341747398
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2024–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2021
- Location
- Hudson, OH, United States
- Phone
- 1-888-440-4233
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Community Foundations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,891,313,285
- Expenses
- $1,364,155,138
- Assets
- $8,410,336,989
- Liabilities
- $6,958,949
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
24 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RONDAL RANSOM (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)
- STEPHEN W JONES (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- RONDAL RANSOM (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $640,563 total reported compensation
- STEPHEN W JONES (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT): $380,946 total reported compensation
- MICHELE HOZA (GENERAL COUNSEL & SECRETARY OF BOARD): $275,290 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
AEF is an industry-wide donor-advised fund (DAF) sponsor/admin focused on expanding philanthropy and increasing the amount granted to donors’ preferred causes and charities. Since AEF’s founding in 1993, we have been trusted with $15 billion generously gifted by our donors. Know the who, what, where, and why behind our mission to expand philanthropy. Who are we? We’re one of the nation’s largest independent donor-advised fund sponsors. At AEF, we are committed to providing a best-in-class experience. AEF solely focuses on the administration of donor-advised funds. As an unbiased administrator, AEF supports donors’ freedom to recommend grantees. AEF does not prohibit grants based on geographic, religious, or other categories—so donors can recommend grants to IRS-qualified public charities. It’s all in the details. From local communities to alma maters to causes and charities that...
What it reported doing in 2024
American endowment foundation makes grants to u.s. Charitable organizations that are tax-exempt charities, or to u.s., state and local government entities for charitable purposes. Grants are only approved if they are used exclusively in furtherance of charitable purposes.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 96% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 58
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 90
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 74.7%; rating input score 75
- Program expense ratio: 99.4%; rating input score 99
- Fundraising efficiency: $414.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 48.2%; rating input score 48; 10th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 39th 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: 27.9%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.17; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0.3%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 74.7% of revenue deployed · 99.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4B in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $641K · 24 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.5M reported
- Consistency: 39 of 41 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 48/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.