Microscopy Society of America

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
116042333
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Wakefield, MA, USA
Phone
7032344115
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Biological & Life Sciences

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,036,579
Expenses
$2,620,023
Assets
$6,309,246
Liabilities
$743,991

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PAUL VOYLES (PRESIDENT)
  • JAY POTTS (PAST-PRESIDENT)
  • GRANT JENSEN (PRESIDENT-ELECT)

People named in this filing

  • PAUL VOYLES (PRESIDENT)
  • JAY POTTS (PAST-PRESIDENT)
  • GRANT JENSEN (PRESIDENT-ELECT)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The microscopy society of america (msa) is a collaborative community dedicated to fostering research, innovation, advancement, and promotion of microscopy.

What it reported doing in 2025

Publications. The society publishes the journal "microscopy and microanalysis", an international and multidisciplinary journal in the fields of microscopy, imaging, and compositional analysis for microscopists in both biology and materials science. "microscopy and microanalysis" includes significant articles that describe new and existing techniques and instrumentation, as well as applications of these to the imaging and analysis of microstructure. The society also publishes the technical magazine "microscopy today (mt)" which provides technical reviews and other information of interest to microscopists working in all fields of the life and physical sciences.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 80% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.5%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 87.1%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $0.31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 1; 1st 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; 75th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.7%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.41; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.5% of revenue deployed · 87.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $2.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 13 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 1/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.