Western Athletic Conference
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 840516838
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Arlington, TX, USA
- Phone
- 8177259567
- Rating
- 86
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $10,720,554
- Expenses
- $15,727,298
- Assets
- $6,967,773
- Liabilities
- $244,630
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- REBEKAH RAY (COMMISSIONER): $373,282 total reported compensation
- DREW SPERAW (SR ASSOCIATE): $158,095 total reported compensation
- RUSSELL WARREN (SR ASSOCIATE): $153,997 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The conference is committed to providing student-athletes an exemplary university experience - both on and off the field of play. With high standards of integrity at the core of our athletic and academic excellences, our goal is to unlock the potenial of the nation's premier student athletes and to prepare them to become the leaders of the future.
What it reported doing in 2025
The purpose of the conference is to form an athletics conference, the members of which shall incorporate programs and shall place and maintain such athletics under the same administrative and academic control as exists in their other educational programs. The conference establishes the regular season schedule for all sponsored team sports as well as participatory guidelines for each sponsored sport. The conference hosts 19 championships in the sports of men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, volleyball, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's golf, softball, men's and women's outdoor track and field, and baseball. Championships governed by the conference provide equitable and competitive access to the post season and the opportunity to compete on the national level.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 61% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 80% for direct work, and 20% for grants.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 86
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 20
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 91%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 99.5%; rating input score 100; 44th 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: 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: -46.7%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.44; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 91% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $14.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $373K · 9 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 5 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.