WM Phoenix Open

Legal name: The Thunderbirds

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
860373052
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Phoenix, Arizona, US
Phone
6028700163
Rating confidence
Limited

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$123,272,559
Expenses
$111,955,641
Assets
$77,744,819
Liabilities
$13,700,658

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHANCE COZBY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHANCE COZBY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $768,259 total reported compensation
  • MICHELLE SIMPSON (CFO): $380,279 total reported compensation
  • JONATHAN JONES (EVENT BUILD MANAGER): $245,672 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Excellence in tournament operations, sustainability, and philanthropic impact across Arizona.

What it reported doing in 2024

With the goal to promote the phoenix metropolitan area through sports, the thunderbirds promoted and produced the wm phoenix open golf tournament to raise money for Arizona charities, most of which provide programs that benefit youth. Waste management is the title sponsor, and the tournament is held at the tpc scottsdale. The tournament generated total revenues of $121m with total expenses of $99m. Recent beneficiaries include phoenix children's hospital, first tee of phoenix, jr. Golf assn. Of az, special olympics az, sun angel foundation, st. Mary's food bank, Arizona community foundation, and banner health foundation.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 97% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 89
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 3rd 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: 97.3%; rating input score 97; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 9.2%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.69; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2%; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 11.2% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $768K · 20 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $41.7M reported
  • Consistency: 11 of 12 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 64 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 59 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.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 55/100.