Institute for Defense and Business

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
562068603
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Phone
9199698008
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,088,649
Expenses
$5,406,862
Assets
$3,316,641
Liabilities
$857,646

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • W MARK FAULKNER (PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL BOGDAHN (VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGY AND DEVELOPMENT)
  • LISA C RASH (VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION AND ASS)
  • ARTHUR T STURGEON JR (VICE PRESIDENT OF PROGRAM AND CURRICULUM, SENIOR P)

Highest reported compensation

  • W MARK FAULKNER (PRESIDENT): $292,635 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL BOGDAHN (VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGY AND DEVELOPMENT): $198,038 total reported compensation
  • ARTHUR T STURGEON JR (VICE PRESIDENT OF PROGRAM AND CURRICULUM, SENIOR P): $195,163 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

In order to further its exempt purposes, the institute for defense and business (idb) fosters shoulder-to-shoulder exchanges in an academic setting among the u.s. Department of defense (dod), other government organizations, and the private sector, (continued on schedule o)delivering education and research programs that present stimulating ideas to foster collaboration and achieve excellence and innovation.

What it reported doing in 2024

Aviation industrial readiness program (air-p)building on the success of its depot and arsenal executive leadership program, and responding to u.s. Navy needs, idb launched the aviation industrial readiness program (air-p) in 2018 in partnership with fleet readiness center east and nc state university. The program equips leaders from aviation-focused defense industrial facilities with leadership development and business acumen through academic instruction, benchmarking, and corporate residencies.air-p cohort 5, which began with academics in october 2023, completed corporate and benchmarking residencies through the spring 2024, and a final academic residency and graduation in june 2024. In october 2024, air-p cohort 6 was fielded with 24 participants from the u.s. Navy, air force, and army. Academic residencies were accomplished through the end of 2024. Corporate and benchmarking residencies took place in the winter and spring of 2025 and the cohort had its final academic residency and graduation in june.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 most voting board members are independent. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 63%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 72.1%; rating input score 72
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 21st 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: 11.2%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.26; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27.1%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 63% of revenue deployed · 72.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 9 filed program accomplishments · $3.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $293K · 18 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • 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 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.