US Naval Sea Cadet Corps

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
520808385
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Arlington, VA, USA
Phone
7032436910
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$9,494,977
Expenses
$8,584,587
Assets
$7,238,385
Liabilities
$1,411,408

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Anju Kettish (Vice President)
  • Thomas Klomps (Vice President)
  • John Sutter (Vice President)
  • Andrew Lennon (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Andrew Lennon (Executive Director): $230,332 total reported compensation
  • Vicki Powell (Chief of Staff): $173,931 total reported compensation
  • Sunitha Thazethe (IT Director): $164,082 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Sea Cadets gives young men and women skills, knowledge, and confidence to become productive, responsible American citizens with an appreciation for the maritime services: Marine Corps, Merchant Marine, Coast Guard, and Navy. Middle school and high school aged cadets train in a disciplined environment where they learn values of honor, respect, commitment, and service.

What it reported doing in 2024

To develop maritime appreciation and knowledge, employment skills, civic responsibility, and leadership skills, Sea Cadets provides a variety of hands-on learning experiences in a highly structured environment. The discipline cadets learn prepares them for both advanced education and employment.We train 5,600+ youth annually at 326 units in 46 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. Our diverse program includes seamanship, sailing, aviation, navigation, law enforcement, security, building robots, medical, STEM, SCUBA, submarines, photography, culinary, special forces training, and an International Exchange Program. Our cadets train on Navy and Coast Guard bases, wear uniforms, adhere to fitness and grooming standards, and are held to the highest standards of behavior. Our military culture stresses concepts of duty, service and self-sacrifice, which are the foundation of good leadership. At young ages, our cadets are given leadership opportunities by staffing summer training events, planning unit drill sessions, and teaching others.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 67% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

STRONG - 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 47
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 85.2%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $26.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 72nd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 9.6%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.84; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.1%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 73rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78% of revenue deployed · 85.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $7.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $230K · 25 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $702K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 6 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.