Aurelia Institute Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 872812643
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2021–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Cambridge, MA, USA
- Phone
- 6178009247
- Rating
- 65
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,291,384
- Expenses
- $2,286,374
- Assets
- $1,920,039
- Liabilities
- $89,258
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ARIEL EKBLAW (CEO AND BOARD CHAIR)
Highest reported compensation
- ANNIKA ROLLOCK (VP OF ENGINEERING): $153,239 total reported compensation
- EVAN HILGEMANN (SR. MECHANICAL ENGINEER): $149,597 total reported compensation
- ALBERT ANTOSCA (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $126,721 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Aurelia institute, inc. Was designed to develop the technologies, communities and policies that will help scale humanity's horizon from early space stations in low earth orbit to the fullness of an interplanetary civilization.
What it reported doing in 2024
Space architecture r&d: the organization is an advanced technology research institute for foundational infrastructure for a space society. The organization's experts are concerned with the structures, materials, technologies, and in-space manufacturing techniques that will make it possible to build larger-scale habitats and increase the number and diversity of people who can participate in life in orbit. As the organization's portfolio grows and can leverage the "road to space" of an emerging space economy, the organization will also explore surface habitats on celestial bodies in the near neighborhood of our solar system. The organization is a fast-moving fabrication and deployment team, with regular spaceflight launches to test and iterate on our engineering concepts. The organization is also a generator of translational intellectual property for the public benefit, with a highly collaborative model for spinning out new technologies that may contribute to life in space.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 62% 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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 58
- Transparency & Controls: 74
- Accountability: 75
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 60.8%; rating input score 61
- Program expense ratio: 60.9%; rating input score 61
- Fundraising efficiency: $8.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- 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: 80%; rating input score 80; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0.2%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.84; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 29.3%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 35.1% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.1% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 16.5% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 60.8% of revenue deployed · 60.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 5 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $153K · 9 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 33/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.