Ashgro Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
884232889
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Wilmington, DE, USA
Phone
6502730170
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Philanthropy, Charity, Voluntarism Promotion

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,240,415
Expenses
$2,672,983
Assets
$3,359,896
Liabilities
$154,811

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JASON HEPBURN (PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • JASON HEPBURN (PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $44,675 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Ashgro's mission is to safeguard humanity by minimizing the risk of misalignment in artificial intelligence. Ashgro accomplishes its mission by operating projects working towards ai alignment through research, workshops, and other educational and charitable activities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Orthogonal is a research initiative focused on advancing the theoretical foundations of artificial intelligence (ai) safety. The team aims to develop a rigorous understanding of how to align increasingly capable ai systems with human values and intent. In 2024, orthogonal published original research on "epistemic states as a potential benign prior," contributing to the public discourse on safe ai development. The team also continued active collaboration with researchers from leading ai safety organizations to refine technical concepts and disseminate findings within the broader research community.

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 97% 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 total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. 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: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 55%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 86.8%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 11th 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: 37%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.26; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.7%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 125.3% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 97.3% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 97.4% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 55% of revenue deployed · 86.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 3 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $45K · 3 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $106K reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 35 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.