Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
384002963
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, United States
Phone
2029981002
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public, Society Benefit N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$16,174,848
Expenses
$15,249,101
Assets
$11,620,480
Liabilities
$6,228,503

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN HAHN (PRESIDENT)
  • ERICK MCGUIRE (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • RUSS CHRISTOFERSON (PAST PRESIDENT)
  • JEREMY CHRIS NORDLOH (PAST PRESIDENT - UNTIL 11/2024)
  • JOHN BROERS (PAST PRESIDENT - UNTIL 01/2025)
  • BRIAN PFARRER (REGION I PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • COLLIN B MOONEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $526,705 total reported compensation
  • ADRIENNE GILDEA (DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $432,202 total reported compensation
  • WILLIAM REESE (DIR OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS PROGRAMS): $235,964 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) is a nonprofit organization composed of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal commercial motor vehicle safety officials and industry representatives. The Alliance aims to prevent commercial motor vehicle crashes, injuries and fatalities and believes that collaboration between government and industry improves road safety and saves lives. Our mission is to improve commercial motor vehicle safety and enforcement by providing guidance, education and advocacy for enforcement and industry across North America. CVSA has four membership types:.

What it reported doing in 2024

Contracts and grants - in partnership with the federal motor carrier safety administration, the department of energy, and the pipeline & hazardous materials safety administration, cvsa manages various grants educating the industry and the general public in areas of brake safety, driver safety, hazardous materials, inspector development, distracted driving, and more. This education is delivered through training, publications, public outreach, dvds, media support, and public service announcements.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 73% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 99
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 97.5%; rating input score 98
  • Fundraising efficiency: $377.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 5.7%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.76; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.54; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.1%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.9% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.7% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.6% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 97.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $14.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $527K · 19 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $692K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.