Western Social Science Association
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237029863
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2022–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021
- Location
- Flagstaff, AZ, USA
- Phone
- 9286062248
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $192,626
- Expenses
- $193,088
- Assets
- $6,702
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- L Ruth Whisler (President)
- Karen Synder (Immediate Past President)
- Monica Gallamore (President- Elect)
- Tonia Warnecke (Vice-President Secretart)
- Larry Gould (Executive Director)
People named in this filing
- L Ruth Whisler (President)
- Karen Synder (Immediate Past President)
- Monica Gallamore (President- Elect)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The World Social Science Association WSSA is committed to multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship service and collegiality. The WSSAs mission includes fostering professional study advancing research promoting the teaching of social science and encouraging professional exchange across the social science disciplines. WSSA draws scholars and others in some 32 disciplines or sections, from across the United States and around the world; convenes an annual conference; conducts research competitions for faculty and students; and publishes The Social Science Journal a juried quarterly research journal.
What it reported doing in 2025
WSSA holds an annual conference which consists of 28 academic disciplines over a three day period in the spring of each year. Approximately500 academics attend the conference presenting over 600 academic research papers. The goal of the conference is to provide an environment in which the free exchange of ideas are promoted and reviewed by other academics.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 66% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 80
- Accountability: 88
- Sustainability: 34
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 6th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- 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: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -0.2%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.03; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 120% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 13.3% per year; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -91.4% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $193K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 15 people listed
- Consistency: 35 of 40 current checks pass · 5 findings to review
- Schedules: 2 filed schedules
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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: Operating margin scored 34/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Conflict-of-interest policy not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX ConferencesMeetings column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX FeesForServicesManagement column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX InformationTechnology column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Part IX Insurance column sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.