Commemorative Air Force

Legal name: The Commemorative Air Force

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
741484491
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Dallas, Texas, USA
Phone
(877) 767-7175 ext. 142
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$30,020,664
Expenses
$28,655,736
Assets
$39,970,314
Liabilities
$11,316,753

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HENRY COATES (PRESIDENT (TERM ENDED IN 2024))
  • GERALD D OLIVER (PRESIDENT (TERM BEGAN IN 2024))

Highest reported compensation

  • HENRY COATES (PRESIDENT (TERM ENDED IN 2024)): $345,901 total reported compensation
  • LANCE LINGUIST (SECRETARY/TREASURER): $253,827 total reported compensation
  • GERALD D OLIVER (PRESIDENT (TERM BEGAN IN 2024)): $220,261 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Educate, Inspire, and Honor through flight and living history experiences.

What it reported doing in 2024

Airshows are premiere aviation events where warbirds (aircraft) gather to reenact historic battles. Additional attractions of these shows include; junior aces kids tent (providing games, arts & crafts and other fun activities for children), famed ghost squadron aircraft displays, special shows for special people on fridays, preceding the regular event, that otherwise might not be able to attend and numerous flying performing acts such as wingwalking and aerobatics.membership dues & anuac fees: membership dues are established & collected to cover normal operating expenses of individual units. Membership fees include monthly or quarterly subscriptions to the caf's magazine, "dispatch." members receive free admission to themuseums and exhibits and other benefits such as opportunities to fly in caf aircraft and gift shop discounts.each unit is also subject to annual anuac fees (annual administrative charges) to assist in the operation of the national headquarters. National & local membership fees are set & collected by each unit and the national headquarters, based on their operational needs. Annual anuac fees may vary from year to year.museum admissions for the caf are for monies collected by individual units, located throughout the united states, for entry into their facilities. Facilities are opened to visitors, tourists, school groups, etc. To view the aircraft and educational exhibits within the facilities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 77% for direct work, 18% for grants, and 6% for affiliated organizations.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 62
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 70.8%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 43.3%; rating input score 43; 10th 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.5%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.39; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.28; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.3%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 8 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 68% of revenue deployed · 70.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $20.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $346K · 19 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $2.2M reported
  • Consistency: 37 of 38 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 43/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.