American Mandarin Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
455532705
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Alexandria, VA, USA
Phone
7037190440
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Promotion of International Understanding

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$259,468
Expenses
$332,158
Assets
$194,790
Liabilities
$15,624

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • NATHANIEL AHRENS (EXECUTIVE DI): $84,000 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 mandarin society's mission is to strengthen american capacity for effective engagement with china. Ams does this by helping americans who have returned from study and work in chinese-speaking societies stay deeply in touch with the asia region, maintain and develop their mandarin chinese language skills, and build the professional networks that will allow them to engage in the vital work of strengthening the united states ties with asia in the 21st century.

What it reported doing in 2024

Educational materials edited and maintained a series of bilingual china studies syllabi newsletter & website produced an educational website, weekly newsletter, and social media content relating to language learning and policy issues. African-american china leadership fellows program ran a mentorship program for china-focused african-american professionals online chinese class hosted and conducted an online chinese class for working professionals ams fellows policy training program ran the ams fellows program, an advanced language and policy education program held at the shanghai administration institute next-generation journalism program supported young american journalists through tailored mentorships with renowned media professionals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 18
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 94%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

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

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -28%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.59; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 25.3%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.1% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 94% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $312K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $84K · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.