Mission Flight
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 814446312
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- El Monte, CA, USA
- Phone
- 6268633119
- Rating
- 82
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- International Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,559,275
- Expenses
- $1,544,005
- Assets
- $1,543,393
- Liabilities
- $711,889
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MICHAEL GABELMAN (President)
- MAURICIO GONZALEZ (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- MICHAEL GABELMAN (President): $60,000 total reported compensation
- LYNN EDLUND (Secretary): $16,961 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to fly medical patients to critically needed appointments within California as well as to fly volunteer teams into remote, impoverished areas of Mexico. Our passion is to connect people who are isolated and in poverty with hope, help, and healing. We are a bridge that connects the gap between ample resources and overwhelming need.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 90
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 63
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 90.9%; rating input score 91
- Program expense ratio: 91.7%; rating input score 92
- Fundraising efficiency: $65.39 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 79; 79th 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: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 1 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 11
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 1%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 32.9% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 27.3% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 23.7% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 90.9% of revenue deployed · 91.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 1 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 43/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 13/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 50/100.