Asia Society

Legal name: The Asia Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133234632
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, United States
Phone
+1 212 288 6400
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Promotion of International Understanding

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$29,605,387
Expenses
$32,286,306
Assets
$123,532,820
Liabilities
$16,119,378

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

Leadership & pay

79 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KYUNG-WHA KANG (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KYUNG-WHA KANG (PRESIDENT & CEO): $521,589 total reported compensation
  • DEBRA EISENMAN (EVP & CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $435,485 total reported compensation
  • WENDY CUTLER (VP & MD, WASHINGTON DC OFFICE): $345,977 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Asia Society is dedicated to understanding Asia and its role in the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Policy and business program division - the asia society policy institute has been ranked in the top 1% of think tanks around the world by the university of Pennsylvania's think tanks and civil society's program. With a problem-solving mandate, the asia society policy institute (aspi) tackles major policy challenges now confronting the asia-pacific in security, prosperity, sustainability, and the development of common norms and values for the region. Policy work is also carried out by our center on u.s. China relations and our New York public programs department. For more information, see schedule o.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 77% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 73.7%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.96 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Pass
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 97%; rating input score 97; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -9.1%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.83; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.9%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 7 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 73.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 65 of 67 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $23.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $522K · 79 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $752K reported
  • Consistency: 45 of 45 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 28/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.