The Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs Incorporated

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
521171381
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Baltimore, MD, USA
Phone
4107272150
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Affairs, Foreign Policy, & Globalization

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$229,714
Expenses
$224,639
Assets
$387,171
Liabilities
$10,036

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

Leadership & pay

23 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Roy Gutman (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Roy Gutman (President): $26,038 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 primary purpose of the Council is to help ensure that the Baltimore Community has a comprehensive international affairs educational program. Its basic goal is to provide education to meet the needs of its audiences through the Distinguished Speakers Program, Cable TV/YouTube outreach, and participation in a National Academic WorldQuest Competition.

What it reported doing in 2025

Regional Academic WorldQuest Competition (Planning Stage): This competition encourages high school students and teachers to foster a mindset of global awareness and involvement. Participating high schools compete for the top honor: the chance to represent their communities at the National Academic WorldQuest Competition in Washington, DC.

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 100% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 87
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.6%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 55.6%; rating input score 56
  • Fundraising efficiency: $17.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.7%; rating input score 96; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.2%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.72; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 41.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 30.7% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.6% of revenue deployed · 55.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 22 of 23 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $125K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $26K · 23 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.