USA Climbing

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911899953
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Phone
8016180740
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Olympics

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,638,599
Expenses
$6,982,593
Assets
$17,158,904
Liabilities
$2,303,999

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kate Felsen Di Pietro (President)
  • Meagan Martin (Vice President)
  • Marc Norman (Chief Executive Officer)
  • John Muse (Vice President of Sport)

Highest reported compensation

  • Marc Norman (Chief Executive Officer): $224,602 total reported compensation
  • John Muse (Vice President of Sport): $138,220 total reported compensation
  • Caitlin Curry (Finanace and Administration Director): $108,690 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Support the well-being, development, and competitive excellence of our athletes as we advance the accessibility and growth of the climbing community nationwide.

What it reported doing in 2024

High Performance: Provide support to elite athletes from youth, paraclimbing and Olympic hopefuls to achieve their athletic goals and represent USA Climbing Internationally. USA Climbing funded athletes to attend World Cups and the World Championships, and operated an elite training facility in Salt Lake City, UT to further develop USA athletes. Additionally, USA Climbing sent a full team to the 2024 Olympic Games and secured 2 Olympic medals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 62% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 77.1%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 81.4%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: $29.36 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • 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: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.6%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.46; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.8%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.9% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.1% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 44.5% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 77.1% of revenue deployed · 81.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $5.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $225K · 16 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $649K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.