Star Flight Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 992259200
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2025
- Location
- Roanoke, VA, USA
- Phone
- 5408152107
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Education N.E.C.
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,619,970
- Expenses
- $1,626,375
- Assets
- $0
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- FRED COOTS III (PRESIDENT/DIRECTOR)
- JON E BEARD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- JON E BEARD (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $120,760 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the entity is to increase the quality of training and experience-building opportunities, and thus the overall quality of aviation personnel, in ways that are not possible in a traditional flight school model, and to assist those without the means or background to afford or excel when given those opportunities.
What it reported doing in 2025
Aircraft & simulator rental/general income/instruction
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 87
- Transparency & Controls: 93
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 20
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 98.4%; rating input score 98
- Program expense ratio: 97.3%; rating input score 97
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- 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: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -0.4%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.7%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 98.4% of revenue deployed · 97.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $121K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 22 of 22 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 1/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 52/100.