Japan-America Society of Tennessee

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621797389
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
(615) 663-6060
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$532,052
Expenses
$539,632
Assets
$821,550
Liabilities
$124,721

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

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • SAMMIE ARNOLD NON-VOTING (Executive Dir.): $92,600 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Building Relationships, Promoting Mutual Understanding

What it reported doing in 2025

OTHER Programs include the Tennessee-Japan Forum and Annual Meeting, the Mitsui Lecture Series, Reading Between the Lines virtual book club, and business networking events.Programs focus on different aspects of business, culture, and society as they relate to Japan and Tennessee. In partnership with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), JAST coordinates the Tennessee delegation to the Southeast-U.S. Japan Association's Annual Conference. JAST is pleased to announce renewed funding opportunities for college-bound high school seniors to earn one of four college scholarships through the Mitsui USA Scholarships in Tennessee Program.

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 95% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 35
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82.5%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 77.2%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.72 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.4%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.52; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.2%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site
  • Where the money goes: 82.5% of revenue deployed · 77.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 30 of 30 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $417K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $93K · 31 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 34/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.