The Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
382144402
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Portage, MI, USA
Phone
2693826555
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,151,032
Expenses
$7,875,383
Assets
$19,182,319
Liabilities
$1,452,688

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TROY A THRASH (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • TROY A THRASH (PRESIDENT/CEO): $243,733 total reported compensation
  • DAVID ULLREY (DIRECTOR OF FINANCE): $84,941 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Ignite curiosity, celebrate innovation, and connect hisotry and science through past, present, and future dreams of flight.

What it reported doing in 2024

The air zoo is a nationally acclaimed, smithsonian-affiliated, aerospace and science museum boasting a renowned collection of over 100 rare and historically significant aircraft, and more than 100,000 unique artifacts, displays and exhibits showcasing history, science, and technology. The air zoo stands apart from similar museums and learning centers of its kind, with a keen focus on hands-on learning and engaging educational programs. Our facilities include multiple classrooms for interactive lessons, an updated theater, state of the art flight simulators, and an exciting indoor amusement park. The museum's growing collection of permanent exhibits highlight the diverse contributions from men and women of aerospace history. The air zoo is also a national leader in long-term lost or damaged historical aircraft restoration. Through our active and innovative restoration process, our guests are able to witness and even participate in the rebuilding of planes long destroyed or lost. With our strong focus on education, the air zoo is a unique resource for organizations, students and teachers in our community. Through a focused education department, the air zoo provides countless educational programs and camps.

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

STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 95
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.8%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 75.3%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 3.4%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.44; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.2%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.1% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.8% of revenue deployed · 75.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $244K · 19 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 51/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 46/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.