Universal Sports & Academics Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
260410003
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Waldorf, MD, USA
Phone
3013964934
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Sports Associations &Training Facilities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,437,011
Expenses
$1,606,867
Assets
$362,876
Liabilities
$76,017

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Joseph A Taglisferi (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Lisa D Shaw (Treasurer): $81,142 total reported compensation
  • Mary F Brannon (Secretary): $78,064 total reported compensation
  • Joseph A Taglisferi (President): $36,825 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provide a structured bridge between recreation and competitive sports with academia, government & commercial industry; artistic coupling of mind & body for the betterment of community & furthering personal & professional growth.

What it reported doing in 2025

Conducted an All-Star competitive cheer program registered w/ USASF. Cheer teams consisted of beginner, intermediate and advanced athletes in which team members improved skills, & achieved individual & team goals while becoming dedicated teammates. Teams participated in 10 competitions during the season. Off season camps/clinics were held to improve & maintain athlete skills. Approximately 200 athletes participated.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 87% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 9
  • Sustainability: 15
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.8%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 81.1%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -11.8%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.21; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.2%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.8% of revenue deployed · 81.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $81K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • 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: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.