The Conference Board

Legal name: The Conference Board Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131624108
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
New York, NY, United States
Phone
2127590900
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Business and Industry

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$95,469,652
Expenses
$77,184,879
Assets
$129,530,885
Liabilities
$61,564,434

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

Leadership & pay

37 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Steve Odland (President and CEO, Trustee)
  • Paul Washington (Executive Director, Environmental, Social, and Governance Center (until 4/12/24))

Highest reported compensation

  • Steve Odland (President and CEO, Trustee): $1,807,940 total reported compensation
  • Sara Murray (Managing Director, International): $531,677 total reported compensation
  • Carol Orenstein (Chief Strategy Officer): $478,491 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Conference Board is the member-driven think tank that delivers trusted insights for what’s ahead. Founded in 1916, we are a nonpartisan, not-for-profit entity holding 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in the United States.

What it reported doing in 2024

Information: the communication department communicates the value and public benefits of the conference board to major media, including newspapers, magazines, radio/tv, and internet users. Through press releases, news alerts, personal contacts and news briefings, the department publicizes the conference board's management and economic research and programs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 81% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - Most voting board members are independent and program spending has grown recently. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 54
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 62
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 73.8%; rating input score 74
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95.2%; rating input score 95; 48th 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: 19.2%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.68; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.48; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.5%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 61% of revenue deployed · 73.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 21 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $56.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.8M · 37 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.3M reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 16 filed money-flow records
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.