Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 521930922
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Washington, DC, USA
- Phone
- 2023317990
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Public Finance, Taxation, Monetary Policy
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,107,666
- Expenses
- $5,740,994
- Assets
- $6,153,807
- Liabilities
- $5,272,899
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- THOMAS G MAHNKEN (PRESIDENT AND CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- THOMAS G MAHNKEN (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $538,354 total reported compensation
- TOSHI YOSHIHARA (SENIOR FELLOW): $289,186 total reported compensation
- JAN VAN TOL (SENIOR FELLOW): $276,730 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Conduct independent nonpartisan research on u.s. Defense policy, military strategy, defense spending, and defense economic policies, disseminate the results to policymakers, public opinion leaders and other defense professionals.
What it reported doing in 2025
Strategic studies: research, analysis, and public education activities on military strategy, policy, and operations. This program focuses on the impact of the changing international security environment on the u.s. Military; the plans and actions advanced by the defense department, military services, and u.s. Congress to respond to threats and challenges; and options for the future.
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 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 33
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 77.7%; rating input score 78
- Program expense ratio: 82.7%; rating input score 83
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.98 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- 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: 9 of 9 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: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.07; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.86; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 38.6%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -2.9% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -10.7% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 77.7% of revenue deployed · 82.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $4.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $538K · 16 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $222K reported
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
- 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 35/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 36/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 6/100.