American Physiological Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
530204660
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Rockville, MD, USA
Phone
+1 844.526.1700
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Professional Societies, Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$40,489,817
Expenses
$22,214,012
Assets
$93,236,520
Liabilities
$13,595,080

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Willis Samson (Past President)
  • Timothy Musch (President)
  • Scott Steen (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Scott Steen (Executive Director): $583,725 total reported compensation
  • Colette E Bean (Chief Publishing Officer): $361,013 total reported compensation
  • Meeghan De Cagna (Chief Community and Learning Officer): $329,437 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 Physiological Society advances the understanding of physiology and its role in health and disease.

What it reported doing in 2024

American Physiological Society (Society) typically conducts three scientific meetings per year, one annual meeting each spring and two smaller scientific conferences. The spring meeting normally attracts between 3,000 and 4,000 scientists, which represent the target audience directly benefiting from the scientific offerings of the Society. The two smaller conferences normally attract between 125 and 350 scientists who represent the number of persons benefiting directly from the Society's symposia and workshops.The Society publishes 16 scientific journals that serve as the vehicle for the dissemination of the investigator's research. The Society publishes more than 25,000 pages and receives over 5,500 manuscripts for consideration. Each manuscript has an average of three authors, representing a population of over 17,000 scientists who benefit from the society's publications. In addition, there are over 5,000 subscriptions to the 13 journals self-published by the Society. The majority of the subscribers are libraries providing a large target audience for the journals. Not only faculty, but also students and clinicians refer to the Society's journals providing for a potential target audience in excess of 100,000.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 82% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.3%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 73.8%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.09 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 98.5%; rating input score 99; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 73.3%; rating input score 73; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 45.1%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.2; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.7%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 73.3% of revenue deployed · 73.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $16.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $584K · 26 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.8M reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 16 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.
  • 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.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 7/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.