Arizona Aerospace Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
866031135
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone
5205740462
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Science and Technology Museums

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,386,797
Expenses
$12,967,499
Assets
$32,745,603
Liabilities
$1,021,837

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KENNETH SCOTT MARCHAND (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KENNETH SCOTT MARCHAND (CEO): $222,500 total reported compensation
  • MELISA LEY (DIR OF FINANCE & ADMINISTR): $124,615 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 foundation's mission is to create unlimited horizons in aerospace education through the preservation and presentation of the history of flight. Both the pima air & space museum and the titan missile museum have strong commitments to educating and inspiring tomorrow's engineers, scientists, pilots, and astronauts. Every year, thousands of school children are admitted to both museums free of charge. The foundation plans to continue expanding its collection of aircraft and improving its visitor amenities, while exploring new ways to foster an interest in the future of aviation technology and aerospace exploration in the young people of southern Arizona.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Arizona aerospace foundation operates three museums, the pima air & space museum (pasm), the titan missile museum (tmm), and the tucson military vehicle museum (tmvm). Pasm is one of the largest non-government-funded aviation museums in the united states. The museum maintains a collection of more than 300 aircraft and spacecraft from around the world, including many rare and one-of-a-kind, and more than 125,000 artifacts. The titan missile museum is a national historic landmark and is the only publicly accessible titan ii missile complex of the 54 that were on alert from 1963 to 1987. It is one of only two intercontinental ballistic missile sites in the world that have been preserved for the benefit of the public. The tucson military vehicle museum provides a historical role of military land dominance and allows visitors to make physical contact with the vehicle as well as drive the vehicles the military has been driving all over the world. The three museums are host to approximately 200,000 visitors each year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 96
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 87.5%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2,631.9 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -13.9%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.53; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.7%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.3% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 87.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $11.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $222K · 18 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $721K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • 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.
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.