National Association for Armenian Studies and Research Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042215574
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2020
Location
Belmont, MA, USA
Phone
6174891610
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$808,572
Expenses
$990,215
Assets
$11,320,406
Liabilities
$19,197

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

Leadership & pay

31 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Silva Sedrakian (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Silva Sedrakian (Executive Director): $99,029 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Founded in 1955, the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) is an independent non-profit membership organization, and one of the world's leading Armenian Studies centers and rare book libraries. NAASR advances Armenian Studies through research and scholarship, offers high-quality educational public programming, and supports and connects scholars of Armenian Studies worldwide with each other and a broad general public to build a global community, expand horizons, and preserve and enrich Armenian culture, history, and identity for future generations.

What it reported doing in 2024

Founded in 1955, the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) is an independent non-profit membership organization, and one of the world's leading Armenian Studies centers and research libraries on Armenian and related subjects. NAASR advances Armenian Studies through research and scholarship, offers high-quality educational public programming, and supports and connects scholars of Armenian Studies worldwide with each other and a broad general public.NAASR's Mardigian Library is used primarily by scholars and independent researchers (whether in person or remotely requesting scanned materials or references), university students, high school students, and the general public. The entire library's collections are available free of charge for research and reference purposes, or simply for browsing, and receives on average 100-150 requests/visits per year. Since the library catalog is fully accessible online, requests come from around the world.The library holds more than 38,000 books and holdings dating to the 1600s, and periodicals dating to the 1800s. Materials in the collection are primarily written in Armenian and English, but important publications in Turkish, Farsi, Russian, French, German, Arabic and other languages are also represented. Through the years, numerous significant and valuable collections have been donated to NAASR including special collections, personal archives and papers from over 25 prominent scholars, genocide survivors, religious figures, and early immigrants to the U.S.In 2024, NAASR hosted and sponsored over 60 events, including 8 major conferences and symposia at venues such as Harvard, UCLA, the University of Paris, and the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan.NAASR's programs reach a growing global audience through live-streamed and hybrid formats, with over 21,000 views on YouTube in 2024.NAASR is home to the largest English-language bookstore on Armenian topics, offering over 2,000 titles for in-person or online shoppers.NAASR supports scholars worldwide through research and assistance. In 2024, more than 40 grants were approved for support by NAASR and the Knights of Vartan Fund for Armenian Studies.NAASR's members include scholars, students, researchers, and members of the general public. NAASR collaborates with a myriad of non-profit organizations and universities throughout the world.

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 86% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 71%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.39 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Limited
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 70.3%; rating input score 70; 32nd 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -22.5%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.43; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.9% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 71% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 27 of 27 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $703K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $99K · 31 people listed
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.