Foreign Area Officer Association
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 541779309
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- Arlington, VA, USA
- Phone
- 7037864835
- Rating
- 55
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Promotion of International Understanding
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $84,322
- Expenses
- $66,858
- Assets
- $46,545
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Peter Larsen (President)
- Doug Faherty (Vice President)
People named in this filing
- Peter Larsen (President)
- Doug Faherty (Vice President)
- Andrew Sanders (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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Foreign Area Officer Association (FAOA) is a nonprofit corporation organized and operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Foreign Area Officers (FAOs) are highly trained U.S. military officers with expertise in diplomacy, regional affairs, political-military analysis, and security cooperation. Their work strengthens U.S. alliances, supports homeland defense, and contributes to international peace and stability. The FAOA educates the public on the contributions of FAOs and international affairs professionals, highlights their unique skills, and provides resources that help these professionals grow in service to national security and international understanding. Through charitable programs such as scholarships, mentorship, and professional development initiatives, the FAOA supports FAOs past, present, and future.
What it reported doing in 2025
In 2025, the Foreign Area Officer Association (FAOA) conducted a series of professional networking and engagement events designed to support the development, connectivity, and effectiveness of U.S. Foreign Area Officers (FAOs) and international affairs professionals. These events were held in multiple locations, including the United States and overseas, and provided structured opportunities for FAOs to exchange professional insights, share regional expertise, and strengthen relationships across the security cooperation and international affairs community. Activities included facilitated discussions, informal professional exchanges, and community-building engagements among active-duty, reserve, and former FAOs. FAOA's networking events serve a key educational and professional development function by enabling participants to share best practices, lessons learned, and region-specific knowledge relevant to their roles in diplomacy, security cooperation, and international engagement. These interactions support improved professional performance and reinforce collaboration across geographically dispersed personnel. The events also contribute to the development of professional networks that support career progression, mentorship, and transition readiness, particularly for those preparing to move from military to civilian roles. By fostering sustained connections among practitioners, FAOA enhances the long-term effectiveness of the FAO community. FAOA supported these events through coordination with regional chapters and volunteer leaders, as well as through direct program funding for event execution. Networking activities were conducted as part of FAOA's broader mission to educate, connect, and support FAOs throughout their careers.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.
The verdict
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 25
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 52
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 22.5%; rating input score 23
- Program expense ratio: 28.4%; rating input score 28
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 20.7%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.7; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 22.5% of revenue deployed · 28.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $19K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 5 of 7 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 23/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 28/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part I part ii net assets crosscheck did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part III transfer expenses within program total did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.