Armenian Center for Natl & Intlstudies

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
954425150
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sherman Oaks, CA, USA
Phone
8185014335
Rating
53
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Peace and Security

Reported finances

Revenue
$269,284
Expenses
$67,694
Assets
$502,065
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Garin Hovannisian (President & CEO)

People named in this filing

  • Garin Hovannisian (President & CEO)
  • Vahe Messerlian (Director)
  • Raffi Sarrafian (Director)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide an educational resource and research base for students, teachers, and policymakers on a comprehensive agenda of foreign and domestic issues mainly on achieving peace, stability and cooperation in the region and building democratic institutions and civil society in armenia. This is accomplished through robust conference and seminar series and curriculum, the publication of books and articles, and outreach programs to universities and the public.

What it reported doing in 2024

4b acnis prepares and publishes a weekly review of current affairs and public policy analysis, book reviews, treatments of major social and political developments, articles, and study guides on public participation and multi-track diplomacy in peace processes and the rule of law. The armenian, english and russian language weekly journal of news, opinion and strategic insights are presented in print, via podcast and other social media platforms, offering a wide spectrum of freely expressed policy analyses on armenia and the diaspora and geopolitical perspectives on regional issues. Highlighted are human and civil rights, peace and security in the region and the world, the right to self-determination in democratic communities in the emerging international environment, and conflict resolution approaches. More than fifty articles and interviews were published and made available to the public free of charge and were issued in several languages. As part of this program service, acnis has continued the development of a digital database and library of significant resource materials for use by scholars, students and experts. Expenses $38,462.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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 - Most voting board members are independent and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 41
  • Transparency & Controls: 50
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 88
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 22.5%; rating input score 22
  • Program expense ratio: 87.4%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 74.9%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.42; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -15.6% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.7% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 22.5% of revenue deployed · 87.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $59K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes foreign activity
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 22/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.