Philosophy of Science Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
510141683
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2013
Location
Cincinnati, OH, USA
Phone
5132885823
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$421,466
Expenses
$377,530
Assets
$654,555
Liabilities
$17,585

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Max Cormendy (Executive Director (non-voting))
  • Craig Callender (President)
  • Alan Love (President Elect)
  • Michela Massimi (Past President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Max Cormendy (Executive Director (non-voting)): $49,452 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Philosophy of Science Association (Inc.) promotes research, teaching and free discussion of issues in the philosophy of science from diverse standpoints.

What it reported doing in 2024

JOURNAL PUBLICATION - Since its inception in 1934, "Philosophy of Science," a professional journal, has been dedicated to the furthering of studies and free discussion from diverse standpoints in the philosophy of science. The Journal is published five times each year, once for each quarter with a December issue containing the PSA Conference proceedings. The Journal aims to publish the best original work in philosophy of science, broadly construed. This work will advance the discussion in some area of philosophy of science or the philosophy of a particular science in a way that is of direct interest to experts in the field, and in a way that explicitly acknowledges and responds to existing work in the area. Prior to selection and publishing, all submissions are peer reviewed with the author anonymous.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 88% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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.

The verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 52
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 82%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 90.5%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.4%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.73; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.1%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 18.7% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 82% of revenue deployed · 90.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $342K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $49K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.