Armenian Church Endowment Fund

Legal name: Armenian Church Endowment Fund Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
202821426
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, United States
Phone
212-812-2255
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Interfaith Coalitions
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,642,810
Expenses
$4,227,436
Assets
$151,681,375
Liabilities
$58,972,696

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Lisa A Kazanjian (Executive Director)
  • Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lisa A Kazanjian (Executive Director): $65,115 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

ACEF is an independent nonprofit that supports parishes and individuals who are creating a legacy through endowments. []( ACEF's Mission The mission of the Armenian Church Endowment Fund (“ACEF”) is to provide financial support to the Diocese, parishes, and related entities of the Armenian Apostolic Church through oversight of pooled investments under our management. ACEF’s professional investment management services, with a long-term horizon and diversified asset allocation, are designed to provide financial sustainability that allows our endowed institutions, our Armenian culture, and our spirituality to thrive for generations to come.

What it reported doing in 2024

ACEF has achieved its goal of distributing 4.5% of assets to beneficiaries each year for the last 22 consecutive years. These monies have been a stable source of funding, helping communities build or repair churches, meet their operating expenses, fund educational programs promoting Armenia's rich history and heritage, and support many other important initiatives. ACEF is proud to work with its investors to help ensure the future of the Armenian Church.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 98% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 88
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 82.8%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.8%; rating input score 99; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 63.7%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 35.88; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.5%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 2 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 82.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 14 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $335K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 32 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 28 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 28 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.