American Pyrotechnics Association Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 520692208
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2015–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Southport, NC, USA
- Phone
- 3019078181
- Rating
- 47
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,562,113
- Expenses
- $1,471,737
- Assets
- $1,505,113
- Liabilities
- $2,354
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- IAN GILFILLAN (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JULIE L HECKMAN (EXECUTIVE DI): $265,683 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The association is organized to represent manufacturers, distributors, retailers, suppliers, and importers in the u.s. Fireworks industry; to encourage safety in design and use of fireworks; to provide information and support to the industry and to promote responsible regulation of fireworks.
What it reported doing in 2025
Sponsorship of annual meeting/convention. The annual convention had approximately 323 attendees. The winter conference had approximately 239 attendees.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 97% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 0
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
- Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 5.8%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.02; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 18.1%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 18.1% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
- Leadership: top reported pay $266K · 15 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $164K reported
- Consistency: 14 of 15 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 19/100.