American Veterans Service Dog Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
465397186
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Lemont, IL, USA
Phone
6304867734
Rating
47
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Military, Veterans' Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$268,322
Expenses
$254,625
Assets
$148,695
Liabilities
$1,286

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BENJAMIN SANDERS (PRESIDENT -)

Highest reported compensation

  • ERIC CARLSON (TREASURER -): $54,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Effective december 8th, 2021: avsda was founded for, and has as its core mission, the reduction of suicide numbers amongst veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress (pts). We strive to accomplish this goal through our service dog training program which pairs and trains veterans with their dogs to become working teams. Our program is administered by professional, knowledgeable, and dedicated staff who assist our veterans in reaching their goal of a better, happier, more productive life with the assistance of their service dog.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provided training to 16 veteran service dog teams and four graduated. New applicants are being welcomed on a rolling basis. Conducted service dog awareness outreach and interactions with the public and local businesses.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 82% 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

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: 4
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 4.9%; rating input score 5
  • Program expense ratio: 5.2%; rating input score 5
  • 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 5.1%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.58; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.2%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -42.8% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.7% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 4.9% of revenue deployed · 5.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $13K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $54K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 5/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.