Japan Society Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131675082
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2127151287
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$14,888,538
Expenses
$14,033,005
Assets
$84,509,401
Liabilities
$1,250,821

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

Leadership & pay

67 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOSHUA W WALKER (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • LISA BERMUDEZ (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOSHUA W WALKER (PRESIDENT & CEO): $609,634 total reported compensation
  • LISA BERMUDEZ (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT): $347,384 total reported compensation
  • GREGORY CORSICO (VICE PRES OF DEVELOPMENT): $310,060 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Japan society is the premier organization connecting japanese arts, culture, business, and society with audiences in New York and around the world. In fy2024, attendance onsite was 36.9k with 3.3k participating in online programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

Film, culture and community; business and policy forum; education and family; media and marketing; membership.

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 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 54
  • Accountability: 99
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 61.6%; rating input score 62
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.66 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • 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: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 98.2%; rating input score 98; 31st 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: 5.7%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.02; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.7%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80% of revenue deployed · 61.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 55 of 56 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $8.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $610K · 67 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $534K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 14/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 56/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.