The Whirly-Girls Scholarship Fund Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237025634
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Saluda, NC, USA
- Phone
- 2087031282
- Rating
- 59
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $442,069
- Expenses
- $130,079
- Assets
- $1,451,123
- Liabilities
- $2,513
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Sharlene Miles (President)
- Kim Hutchings (Past President)
People named in this filing
- Sharlene Miles (President)
- Kelly Keane (VP Operations)
- Kitty Seerden (VP Scholarships)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
See Schedule O.Whirly Girls Scholarship Fund, Inc. is an international nonprofit, educational, and charitable organization dedicated to advancing and educating women in helicopter aviation. The organization's goals include the following:- Promotion of women in the helicopter industry through scholarship awards, mentoring, public appearances, press releases, magazine articles, and informational displays in aviation museums- Exchange of information among women in helicopter aviation- Promotion of community acceptance of rotorcraft through increasing public awareness of rotorcraft utility and versatility
What it reported doing in 2025
The Whirly-Girls Scholarship Program provides advanced training scholarships awarded annually to qualified women pilots. The scholarships are intended to improve pilot skills and safety, increase organizational and member exposure and status, promote the engagement of women pilots in aviation, and increase the overall number of female helicopter pilots.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 54% for direct work, and 46% for grants.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
MIXED - 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: 36
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 70
- Sustainability: 86
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 24.6%; rating input score 25
- Program expense ratio: 66.4%; rating input score 66
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 81.8%; rating input score 82; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 50%; rating input score 50; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 70.6%; rating input score 96; 96th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.16; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 24.6% of revenue deployed · 66.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $86K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 21 of 23 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 25/100.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 50/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grants require schedule f did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.