Society of Fire Protection Engineers Chesapeake Chapter

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
061059016
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2025
Location
College Park, MD, USA
Phone
4434726844
Rating
38
Verdict
REVIEW
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$31,728
Expenses
$27,034
Assets
$20,040
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Mark Hopkins (President)
  • Kristin Weniger (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Mark Hopkins (President)
  • Kristin Weniger (Vice President)
  • Tim Cunningham (Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

The SFPE Chesapeake Chapter advances fire protection engineering through professional education, support of students and academic programs, industry research, and professional engagement. During the year, the Chapter held monthly lunch-and-learn meetings offering professional development hours, generating approximately $3,200 in net proceeds, and conducted an educational symposium at an approximate $1,000 net loss. The Chapter contributed $25,500 to the University of Maryland Fire Protection Engineering program's current use fund, $500 for student scholarships, and $1,500 to the SFPE Foundation to support industry research. The Chapter also held an annual golf outing for approximately 120 participants, generating approximately $17,700 in net proceeds to support its educational and professional activities.

What it reported doing in 2025

The SFPE Chesapeake Chapter advances the science and practice of fire protection engineering by providing professional education, supporting students and academic programs, encouraging research, and promoting professional engagement within the fire and life safety community. During the year, the Chapter conducted monthly lunch-and-learn meetings for members and other fire protection professionals. These meetings provided continuing education on technical topics related to fire protection engineering and allowed attendees to earn professional development hours toward maintaining professional credentials and advancing their technical knowledge. The monthly educational meetings generated approximately $3,200 in net proceeds for the Chapter. The Chapter also conducted an educational symposium that provided more extensive technical instruction and professional development opportunities. The symposium operated at an approximate net loss of $1,000, reflecting the Chapter's commitment to providing educational programming even when registration and sponsorship revenue did not fully offset the cost of the event. The Chapter provided significant financial support to fire protection engineering education. A contribution of $25,500 was made to the University of Maryland Fire Protection Engineering program's current use fund to support the program's educational mission, student development, and other current program needs. The Chapter also contributed $500 specifically to support student scholarships. These contributions are intended to strengthen fire protection engineering education, encourage students entering the profession, and support the development of future fire protection engineers. The Chapter also contributed $1,500 to the SFPE Foundation to support research benefiting the fire protection engineering profession. This contribution supports the broader advancement of technical knowledge, research, and innovation related to fire and life safety. In addition to its educational programs and charitable contributions, the Chapter held an annual golf outing that brought together approximately 120 golfers and other participants from the regional fire protection, engineering, construction, and related professional communities. The event provided an opportunity for professional engagement and relationship building while also generating approximately $17,700 in net proceeds for the Chapter. These proceeds help support the Chapter's educational programs, student support, contributions to fire protection engineering education and research, and other activities conducted in furtherance of its exempt purpose. Through these activities, the Chapter continued its long-term objective of advancing fire protection engineering knowledge, supporting the education and professional development of current and future practitioners, encouraging research, and strengthening the fire protection engineering community throughout the Chesapeake region.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 87% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

REVIEW - The filed numbers largely add up. 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: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.8%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.74; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -15.6% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.3% per year; rating input score 0; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 9 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2010 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part III transfer expenses within program total did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.