Women's Transportation Seminar Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
264058230
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2029555085
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,217,444
Expenses
$1,059,605
Assets
$2,315,895
Liabilities
$6,527

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARA STICKLER (PAST PRESIDENT & CEO [UNTIL 6/2024])
  • WENDY SCOTT (INTERIM CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARA STICKLER (PAST PRESIDENT & CEO [UNTIL 6/2024]): $192,025 total reported compensation
  • RENITA M GROSS (DIRECTOR, MEETINGS AND EVENTS): $130,201 total reported compensation
  • WENDY SCOTT (INTERIM CEO): $110,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Advancing women in transportation through scholarships, research, and education.

What it reported doing in 2024

Conference & education: wts foundation offers its flagship transportation you conference--an opportunity for select transportation you students from across the country and their mentors to gather for once-in-a-lifetime tours, meet-ups with white house administrators, and educational breakout sessions. Every annual transportation you dc summit offers attendees the chance to meet college representatives and senior administration officials, including the secretary of transportation, and explore the white house or us capitol, local airports, the dc metro, and other transportation hubs. This dynamic program provides experience with engineering challenges, professional development programs, and networking events. Participants learn about college opportunities, core ...continued on schedule ocontinued from page 2... Transportation development components including accessibility and livable communities, and career planning. In addition to the transportation you conference, wts foundation holds an annual gala to promote the visibility of women in transportation and to honor student scholarship recipients from the past year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 91% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.3%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 92%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.4%; rating input score 98; 47th 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.19; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.3% of revenue deployed · 92% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $975K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $192K · 19 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 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: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.