Americans Promoting Study Abroad

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
270352649
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2016
Forms available
Form 990 2016
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2026576682
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Academic Exchange

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$56,560
Expenses
$67,048
Assets
$76,366
Liabilities
$141,338

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

People named in this filing

  • MICHAEL DARDZINSKI (BOARD DIRECT)
  • TED DEAN (BOARD MEMBER)
  • ROBERT ROCHE (BOARD MEMBER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2016. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Apsa connects global-minded american youth of all backgrounds to innovative educational experiences abroad. Through our scholarships and immersive international programs we foster a global generation of youth equipped with foreign language fluency, cross-cultural awareness and 21st-century professional skills. Apsa is a non-profit organization established in 2008 by american professionals who have extensive experience abroad and are passionate about youth development. To date we have awarded nearly 400 high school students with over 2m in scholarships for global education experiences abroad. We aim to reach 1000 youth by 2020. It is our mission to include all youth populations in meaningful study abroad programs. In order to make enriching global educational experiences more accessible, we work closely with experts and partners around the globe in areas of global education, advocacy, program development as well as evaluation & research. Our network of advisors and partners value the im

What it reported doing in 2016

Apsa's china summer program is its core program allowing public high school students from the us to study chinese, engage with chinese culture and society, and participate in leadership and career development programs in beijing. The program is provide as a full scholarship to students from public schools in under-served communities in the united states.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 85.7%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -18.5%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.14; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.85; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -54.7% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -22.3% per year; rating input score 0; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 85.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $57K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2010 to 2016
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.