American-German Institute Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521309525
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2023329312
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Studies

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,246,311
Expenses
$2,118,136
Assets
$5,966,698
Liabilities
$2,415,187

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

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jeffrey Rathke (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Jeffrey Rathke (President): $163,141 total reported compensation
  • Susanne Dieper (Program Director): $129,423 total reported compensation
  • Peter S Rashish (Program Director): $118,069 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-German Institute is a center for policy research and scholarship dedicated to the most important political, economic, and security issues confronting Germany and the United States in the global arena. AGI anticipates challenges, proposes solutions, and bolsters the German-American partnership.

What it reported doing in 2024

SOCIETY, CULTURE AND POLITICS - In FY25, the Society, Culture & Politics Program covered breaking political developments in Germany, the election, and coalition negotiations in articles, podcasts, and events, including a joint event with the Hertie School at AGI offices in Washington and webinars on the election and the new German government; it continues to monitor the new government performance, policies, and personnel. The Understanding the AfD project continues to track far-right politics in Germany, which after the AfD second-place finish has become even more important. The SCP program is also focusing on Germany s memory culture and hosted a conference on Germany s mnemonic Zeitenwende, co-funded by Georgetown University and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The conference examined how Germany? s approach to Holocaust memory has evolved as new attention is paid to the period of German colonialism. Throughout early 2025, AGI published articles and a podcast from conference participants, continuing to foster debate on Germany s memory landscape. The program continues to mark important milestones in German memory, including the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration in 2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 73% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 70.5%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.55 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.4%; rating input score 96; 26th 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: -70%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.82; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.4%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 70.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 28 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $163K · 31 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 2/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.