Gerontological Society of America

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521256181
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2028421275
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,696,945
Expenses
$11,166,888
Assets
$16,666,182
Liabilities
$2,846,964

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARILYN GUGLIUCCI (PRESIDENT)
  • TAMARA BAKER (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JAMES APPLEBY (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Highest reported compensation

  • JAMES APPLEBY (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $495,370 total reported compensation
  • JAMES EVANS (CFO AND COO): $293,674 total reported compensation
  • CHARLIE BAASE (VP, MARKETING, COMMS., & BUS. DVLPMT.): $251,678 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Since 1945, gsa has established itself as a convener of multi-stakeholder collaborations in the field of aging by collaborating with outside stakeholders to inform our members (and others) on topics where there are knowledge gaps due to environmental changes, policy changes, new research findings, guideline changes, practice challenges, and new products entering the market.

What it reported doing in 2025

Member activities: gsa provides its more than 6,000 members with the opportunity to present their research findings, learn about the research findings of others, and network at its annual scientific meeting. Sessions on research, education and practice related to all facets of aging and the aging processes are featured. Gsa also provides 24 x 7 online access to all five of gsa's scholarly journals with thousands of articles on every aspect of aging research, best practices and trends; provides members with a monthly newsletter, gerontology news and gsa announcements, both of which cover the latest news in the profession and updates members about the society's activities. Gsa benefits include networking, publications; webinars and podcasts; summits; online learning; regular e-mail updates; over 65 interdisciplinary topic-focused interest groups; a robust awards program to recognize excellence in the fields of gerontology and gerontological research; student rewards; job board connects talented job seekers with career opportunities and helps employers reach the most qualified candidates in the field of aging; the national center to reframe aging is dedicated to ending ageism by advancing an equitable and complete story about aging in america; the resource centers for minority aging research (rcmar) national coordinating center, funded by the national institute on aging (nia) and housed at gsa the resource for rcmar center leaders, scientists and staff, with the goal of increasing the diversity of the aging research workforce; and gsa provides leadership and support of gerontology and geriatrics education faculty and students at educational institutions. Gsa connect fosters interdisciplinary collaboration and learning with career gerontologists and students who call gsa their professional home.

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 98% 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. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 77.8%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98%; rating input score 98; 39th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.1%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.49; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70% of revenue deployed · 77.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $8.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $495K · 21 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.4M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 12 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.

  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.