The Institute of Navigation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 536019389
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
- Location
- Manassas, VA, USA
- Phone
- 7033662723
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $6,781,475
- Expenses
- $2,907,489
- Assets
- $31,513,505
- Liabilities
- $1,480,016
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
42 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- GARY MCGRAW (PRESIDENT)
- SHERMAN LO (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
- CHRIS HEGARTY (PAST PRESIDENT)
- LARRY HOTHEM (PAST PRESIDENT)
- MIKEL MILLER (PAST PRESIDENT)
- Y JADE MORTON (PAST PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- LISA BEATY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $486,441 total reported compensation
- RICHARD BUONGIOANNI (DIRECTOR OF IT): $262,720 total reported compensation
- MIRIAM LEWIS (AUTHOR PROGRAM COORDINATOR): $140,005 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Advancing the art and science of navigation, positioning, and timing (pnt). The institute of navigation (ion) is a membership organization incorporated in january 1967 for the purpose of advancing the art and science of navigation through publications, regional and national meetings, the education of the next generation of navigation professionals, and through its officers and working committees.
What it reported doing in 2025
Joint navigation conference - the largest u.s. Military positioning, navigation, and timing (pnt) conference of the year with joint service and government participation. The event focuses on technical advances in pnt with emphasis on joint development, test and support of affordable pnt systems, logistics and integration. From an operational perspective the conference will focus on advances in battlefield applications of gps; critical strengths and weaknesses of field navigation devices; warfighter pnt requirements and solutions; and navigation warfare.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 90% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 56
- Transparency & Controls: 68
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 78
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 50.2%; rating input score 50
- Program expense ratio: 83.5%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- 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: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 57.1%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.84; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 35.4%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 50.2% of revenue deployed · 83.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 37 of 37 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 8 filed program accomplishments · $2.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $486K · 42 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $416K reported
- Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 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.
- Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grants require schedule f did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.