Coalition for American Excellence

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
922746969
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Vienna, VA, USA
Phone
7037526142
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,675,000
Expenses
$4,446,237
Assets
$880,834
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Chris Carr (Director President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Chris Carr (Director President): $35,000 total reported compensation
  • Robert Honold (Director Secretary): $35,000 total reported compensation
  • Sarah Nelson (Director Treasurer): $35,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule O

What it reported doing in 2024

Coalition for American Excellence (CAE) conducted issue advocacy to advance center-right policies and legislation, including issue advocacy related to legislation to better secure and advance U.S. technological leadership; and provided grants to organizations that aligned with the mission of CAE.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 42% for direct work, and 58% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 85
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.9%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 98.7%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 4.9%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 173% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 129.5% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 29.8% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.9% of revenue deployed · 98.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $4.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $35K · 3 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $1.7M reported
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 6/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.