Association of American Geographers
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 530207414
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2023
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2022341450
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Population Studies
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,775,219
- Expenses
- $5,814,202
- Assets
- $14,368,724
- Liabilities
- $4,982,836
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
28 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- WILLIAM MOSELEY (PRESIDENT)
- SARA SMITH (VICE PRESIDENT)
- PATRICIA EHRKAMP (PAST PRESIDENT)
- GARY LANGHAM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- GARY LANGHAM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $486,255 total reported compensation
- BATTSETSEG ORGODOL (CONTROLLER): $188,264 total reported compensation
- ELIN THORLUND (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $180,479 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
We provide students, educators, practitioners, and partners with the resources they need to enter the field, develop their careers, and form professional friendships that can last a lifetime. Through annual and ongoing programs, events, and meetings, we aim to create a space in which all geographers - wherever they come from - will know they are valued, heard, and welcomed. By taking care of our community, we ensure the health and vitality of the geographic discipline as it evolves to meet the challenges faced in today's world.
What it reported doing in 2025
Communication (including special funds awarded, community groups, and grants and contracts): aag promotes acquaintance and discussion among its members and with scholars in the field; stimulates research and scientific exploration; encourages publication of scholarly studies; and AIDS the advancement of geography and geographic education.
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 95% 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: 72
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 86
- Sustainability: 53
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 70.3%; rating input score 70
- Program expense ratio: 73.3%; rating input score 73
- Fundraising efficiency: $45.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Limited
- Conducts field audits: Limited
- May suspend future funding: Limited
- Requires financial reports: Pass
- Conducts site visits: Limited
- Requires grant agreements: Limited
- May require repayment: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 99.7%; rating input score 100; 46th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 14.2%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.47; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 27.9%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -3.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 70.3% of revenue deployed · 73.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 9 filed program accomplishments · $4.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $486K · 28 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $432K reported
- Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 3 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.
- 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.