Society for American Baseball Research Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521234482
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phone
6024961461
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Baseball, Softball

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,470,769
Expenses
$1,402,051
Assets
$1,998,123
Liabilities
$310,414

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARK ARMOUR (PRESIDENT (THRU JUNE))
  • DAN EVANS- DIRECTOR THRU (JUNE)/ PRESIDENT (JULY-NOV))
  • DAN LEVITT - TREASURER ((THRU NOV)/ PRESIDENT (AS OF DEC))
  • ALLISON LEVIN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • SCOTT BUSH (CEO)
  • JEFFREY S CARTER (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • SCOTT BUSH (CEO): $219,480 total reported compensation
  • JEFFREY S CARTER (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT): $122,892 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The purpose of sabr is to encourage the study of baseball, past and present, as a significant athletic and social institution; to encourage further research and literary efforts; to establish the accurate historical record of baseball; to help (cont. On sch o) disseminate educational, historical, and research information about baseball.

What it reported doing in 2025

The sabr baseball analytics certification program is an online, on-demand curriculum offering development and learning opportunities for those interested in elevating their skills and knowledge relating to baseball analytics. These courses strengthen the analytic skills of both baseball enthusiasts and professionals in the field of baseball analytics. The curriculum is being developed by current baseball professionals, including employees of major league baseball and its clubs. Optional course completion certifications are available for those who complete the final examination/project work to illustrate their learned proficiencies and separate themselves from others. The first of four planned modules was released in 2022. 516 people took courses this year, 257 of those took it for certification.

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 98% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 64
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71.6%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 72.8%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.18 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 55.8%; rating input score 56; 34th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.7%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.43; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.4%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71.6% of revenue deployed · 72.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $219K · 14 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 21/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 56/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.