The Society of American Archivists Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
452661390
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
3126060722
Rating
65
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$201,603
Expenses
$265,066
Assets
$2,990,508
Liabilities
$866,908

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LISA MANGIAFICO (PRESIDENT)
  • CARLI LOWE (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • JACQUALINE PRICE OSAFO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JACQUALINE PRICE OSAFO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $279,703 total reported compensation
  • CHERIE NEWELL (CHIEF OF OPERATIONS): $148,948 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 saa foundation raises money to provide resources to enhance the work of the archival community. To that end, the saa foundation will support: research and reporting about the profession, its practice, and its practitioners; development of professional growth opportunities; recognition of archivists via scholarships, travel assistance and awards; programs to enahance the performance of repositories; and efforts to persuade influential external organizations to create or promote archives. In addition, the saa foundation will seek to strengthen itself by enhancing its accountability, development and governance.

What it reported doing in 2024

Endowment - granted various awards to individuals and/or institutions for achievements in the archival field or assistance with professional development within the archival field.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 63% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 99% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 73
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.9%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 35.9%; rating input score 36
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -31.5%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.28; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.8%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.9% of revenue deployed · 35.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $95K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $280K · 21 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 36/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.