Robonation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521797483
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2012
Location
Arlington, VA, USA
Phone
7035170168
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Educational Services and Schools - Other

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,302,278
Expenses
$5,322,359
Assets
$4,582,835
Liabilities
$459,778

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DARYL DAVIDSON (PRESIDENT AND CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DARYL DAVIDSON (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $234,243 total reported compensation
  • RICHARD E QUEST (EDUCATION MANAGER): $166,444 total reported compensation
  • LINDSEY GROARK (VP OF PROGRAMS): $152,760 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Robonation delivers educational programs in robotics, autonomy, and related technologies through student competitions, hands-on learning resources, and educator support. These programs provide applied stem learning experiences for students from elementary through higher education, developing technical, problem-solving, and teamwork skills aligned with workforce needs. Through this work, robonation increases awareness of education and career pathways and contributes to the development of a future workforce in engineering, skilled trades, and technology fields.

What it reported doing in 2025

Other program services: robonation fosters a community of participants, educators, industry professionals, volunteers, and alumni to support learning and ongoing engagement. Activities include webinars, technical talks, mentorship, peer and industry networking, volunteer opportunities, and alumni engagement. Robonation also provides advisory support to partners on robotics and autonomy-related education and workforce development initiatives, including program design and technical guidance. These efforts extend learning beyond formal programs, connect participants to real-world applications, and increase awareness of education and career pathways in engineering, skilled trades, and technology fields.

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 95% 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 most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 57
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.1%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 72.6%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $106.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 25.3%; rating input score 25; 17th 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: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.4%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.86; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.4%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.1% of revenue deployed · 72.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $234K · 15 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $1.1M reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 33 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 7 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 25/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.