The American Academic Research Inst in Iraq (D/b/a Tarii)

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
363684155
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2026334455
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Promotion of International Understanding

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$468,068
Expenses
$571,491
Assets
$186,361
Liabilities
$2,302

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PETER WIEN (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • ARBELLA BET-SHLIMON (SECRETARY)
  • KEVIN JONES (TREASURER)
  • AUGUSTA MCMAHON (VICE PRESIDE)

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

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

Overview

Mission

Promotion of scholarly research on and in iraq and ancient mesopotamia. Taarii raises funds for graduate and post-graduate fellowships for americans and for iraqi academics to perform research work on iraq in a broad range of disciplines.

What it reported doing in 2024

Taarii awarded research fellowships to individual scholars in the us and in iraq. With improvements in health and travel, taarii continued in person conferences and events in the us and internationally, while also holding virtual programs to maintain easier access. Taarii continued a project from the smithsonian and the us embassy in baghdad to document and stabilize the ancient site of nimrud, as well as a project to stabilize a historic palace in diyala. An acting regional director in baghdad is assisting voluntarily as taarii finalizes the placement of a permanent regional director. Taarii continued to employ the us-based executive director and a part-time regional director in erbil, who overseas taariis office in the kurdistan region of iraq along with the projects in the region.

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 82% 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 the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 83%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Limited
    • Conducts field audits: Limited
    • May suspend future funding: Limited
    • Requires financial reports: Limited
    • Conducts site visits: Limited
    • Requires grant agreements: Limited
    • May require repayment: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 50%; rating input score 50; 42nd 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: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -22.1%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.33; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 48% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 28.9% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 46.1% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 83% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $474K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and foreign activity
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 50/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.