Red Tail Academy

Legal name: Red Tail Academy Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
850787162
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Overland Park, KS, USA
Phone
9137771440
Rating
56
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Support N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$244,036
Expenses
$40,231
Assets
$217,106
Liabilities
$2,640

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Patrick Nelson (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Patrick Nelson (Executive Director): $3,077 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To create opportunities to expose, educate, and mentor underrepresented youth (ages 12-18) in the aviation field.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, Red Tail Academy Inc. had great success with our second annual summer aviation camp for ages 10-14. The 26 campers went to the TWA museum, iFly, the Aviation Institute of Maintenance, Whiteman AFB and the international airport. They also flew drones, experienced time in a simulator along with a discovery flight. We kicked off our fifth private pilot ground school this week with six students, while two students from last year's private pilot ground school earned their private pilot certificate. We also completed the first of 18 aviation educational videos that we test ran with the Central Avenue Betterment Association and Jr Police Cadets from the Police Activity League in August. Lastly, we hosted various youth organizations at the downtown airport (MKC), which included guest speakers, airplane displays and simulator flights.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 23
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 6%; rating input score 6
  • Program expense ratio: 36.6%; rating input score 37
  • Fundraising efficiency: $25.18 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd 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: 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: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 83.5%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.4; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.6%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 88% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 124.9% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 6% of revenue deployed · 36.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $15K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $3K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 6/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 37/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.