The Falcon Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 756016930
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- USAF Academy, CO, USA
- Phone
- 7194722056
- Rating
- 88
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,561,375
- Expenses
- $1,014,051
- Assets
- $37,359,903
- Liabilities
- $37,068
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Steve Lorenz (President & CEO)
- Matthew Byrd (Vice President)
Highest reported compensation
- Steve Lorenz (President & CEO): $127,173 total reported compensation
- Sharon Cooper (Director of Op and Comptroller): $124,279 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 mission of the falcon foundation is to further the opportunity for highly motivated, exceptional, young men and women to attend the united states air force academy through the award of falcon foundation scholarships at junior college and preparatory schools, enabling them to pursue a career in the united states air force and space force.
What it reported doing in 2024
Scholarship program- The Falcon Foundation provides up to 100 annual scholarships to attend one of five preparatory schools to allow Falcon scholars to qualify for admission into the USAF Academy the following year. Each Falcon Scholarship is a function of school tuition, room and board (50%), school scholarship (25%), and family cost (25%). Falcon Scholars may choose to attend one of five prep schools offered by the Falcon Foundation. Each school has a different tuition, room and board cost which causes the scholarship amount per Falcon Scholar to vary from school to school.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Investment-supported. 70% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 68% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 79
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 96
- Sustainability: 80
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 87%; rating input score 87
- Program expense ratio: 90.9%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 35.1%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 36.84; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 24.8%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 87% of revenue deployed · 90.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 13 of 14 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $922K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $127K · 20 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 6 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 — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.