National Free Flight Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
382231086
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2013
Location
Weatherford, TX, USA
Phone
8177577866
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$197,857
Expenses
$87,255
Assets
$1,215,065
Liabilities
$105,900

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • David Lindley (President)
  • Gene Ulm (Vice President)
  • Jim Parker (Vice President)
  • Ken Bauer (Vice President)
  • Mark Vancil (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • David Lindley (President)
  • Lisa Pacelli (Secretary)
  • Gene Ulm (Vice President)

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

To promote the ideas and scientific development of free flight.

What it reported doing in 2025

To promote and encourage the investigation, discussion, and documentation of technical and theoretical aspects of free flight.

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 89% 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 0
  • Sustainability: 81
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.4%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 96.2%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $52.31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 55.9%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.93; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -8.1% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.1% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.4% of revenue deployed · 96.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 7 board members independent · 0 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $84K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.