Middle East Studies Association of North America Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
136220175
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone
5203332577
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Studies

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,481,020
Expenses
$1,282,495
Assets
$4,060,083
Liabilities
$177,091

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • USSAMA MAKDISI (PRESIDENT (FROM NOVEMBER))
  • ASLI U BALI (IMMEDIATE PAST-PRESIDENT (FROM NOVEMBER))
  • JEFFREY D REGER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & TREASURER)

Highest reported compensation

  • JEFFREY D REGER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & TREASURER): $192,287 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The middle east studies association (mesa) is a non-profit association that fosters the study of the middle east, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and encourages public understanding of the region and its peoples through programs, publications and services that enhance education, further intellectual exchange, recognize professional distinction, and defend academic freedom in accordance with its status as a 501(c)(3) scientific, educational, literary, and charitable organization.

What it reported doing in 2025

From its inception in 1966 with 51 founding members, mesa has increased its membership into the thousands and now serves as an umbrella organization for dozens of institutional members and affiliated organizations. The association is a constituent society of the american council of learned societies, and a member of the national humanities alliance and the coalition for international education. As part of its goal to advance learning, facilitate communication and promote cooperation, mesa sponsors an annual meeting that is a leading international forum for scholarship, intellectual exchange and pedagogical innovation. The 59th annual meeting was held in Washington dc in 2025.mesa is responsible for three publications: the international journal of middle east studies, which is the flagship journal of the field; the review of middle east studies; and a biannual newsletter, issues in middle east studies.an awards program recognizes scholarly achievement through a range of book and dissertation awards as well as service to the profession, exemplary undergraduate education, and graduate student mentoring.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 70% for direct work, and 30% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.4%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 85.4%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 60.5%; rating input score 60; 35th 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.4%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.17; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.4% of revenue deployed · 85.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $192K · 13 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.