Troopster
Legal name: Troopster Donation Corp
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 384021508
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2018
- Location
- Sandston, VA, United States
- Phone
- 1-757-296-0356
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Gift Distribution
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $676,140
- Expenses
- $724,783
- Assets
- $26,246
- Liabilities
- $46,194
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
6 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- CHELSEA MANDELLO (CEO & PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- CHELSEA MANDELLO (CEO & PRESIDENT): $93,606 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Troopster was founded to make sending care packages to U.S. troops easier for families, friends, and communities across the U.S. Our Mission Troopster is a 501(c)3 cause-driven organization, founded in 2015 by a U.S. veteran to support the Armed Forces community, deployed service members, military spouses and families with a resource to send/receive personalized and unique care packages. Troopster is a 501(c)3 cause-driven organization, founded in 2015 by a U.S. Our Vision.
What it reported doing in 2024
Troopster is a leading cause-driven organization that supports the u.s. Military community through the vanguard of care package services. Founded and operated by u.s. Veterans, troopster offers a function of support in morale driven, quality care package production. Troopster care packages are available online, and headquarters in norfolk, Virginia, home of the largest naval military installation in the world. Troopster holds community pack events to pack and send care packages to military service members deployed. The events are community-wide volunteer evens, open to the public. Participants can pack, make, and decorate care packages that will be shipped, same day, to the military service members. Troopster provided more than 15,000 care packages to u.s. Service members deployed across more than 22 countries and through-out the middle east.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- 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.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 79
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 69
- Sustainability: 14
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 91%; rating input score 91
- Program expense ratio: 84.9%; rating input score 85
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- 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: -7.2%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.04; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 1.76; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 12.9%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 36.4% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 28.4% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 21.8% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 91% of revenue deployed · 84.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $615K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $94K · 6 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 2/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 2/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.