Dead Robot Society Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
932999747
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2024
Location
Herndon, VA, USA
Phone
7039466146
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Reported finances

Revenue
$40,010
Expenses
$39,387
Assets
$2,248
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JON GRASMEDER (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • JON GRASMEDER (PRESIDENT)
  • LES NEWCASTLE (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER)
  • MARIA GRASMEDER (CFO/TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To train students on the fundamental principles of engineering and technology, in which students design, build and program autonomous robots to compete in regional and international competitions, and learn to use the methods and tools that are ubiquitous in modern engineering firms.

What it reported doing in 2024

The dead robot society inc. Teaches middle and high school students to design, build, and program table-top autonomous robots to compete in a regional and then international competition. Students learn in a hands-on environment to prototype and refine robots that use motors and sensors to find, lift, and move game pieces into scoring positions before time expires. Students prepare an oral on-site presentation describing their robot development experience and programming strategy to show their robotic competence. The students participated in the global conference on educational robotics and international botball tournament in norman, Oklahoma on 8-12 july 2025. The students competed in a tournament of 49 national and international teams. Awards: second place overall, fourth place seeding, third place double elimination.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 70% 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 61
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.6%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 61.6%; rating input score 62

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.6%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.06; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 53.4% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 65.4% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 67.5% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.6% of revenue deployed · 61.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 2 filed program accomplishments · $24K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.