Young America's Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237042029
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Herndon, VA, United States
- Phone
- (800) 872-1776
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $41,594,746
- Expenses
- $36,548,122
- Assets
- $115,204,017
- Liabilities
- $9,168,350
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Scott Walker (YAF President & Board Pres.)
- Ronald Pearson (Board Vice-President)
Highest reported compensation
- Scott Walker (YAF President & Board Pres.): $866,579 total reported compensation
- Andrew Coffin (VP & Director Reagan Ranch): $554,281 total reported compensation
- Darla Anzalone (Director of Communications): $466,943 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To ensure that increasing numbers of young Americans understand and are inspired by the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values.
What it reported doing in 2024
Reagan Ranch and Reagan Ranch Center: Young America's Foundation preserves and protects the Reagan Ranch and operates the Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara, California, as premier Presidential sites to educate young people about the life, ideas, and legacy of President Ronald Reagan. The Reagan Ranch, known as the "Western White House, and the Reagan Ranch Center, known as the "Schoolhouse for Reaganism," are the largest and most impactful conservative sites on the West Coast. Each year, thousands of visitors - including students of all ages - walk in President Reagan's footsteps at the 688-acre Reagan Ranch, which is preserved exclusively through the philanthropic support of patriotic Americans. Thousands more visit the 20,000-square-foot Reagan Ranch Center, which houses expansive Exhibit Galleries, hosts student conferences and seminars, and community events featuring prominent conservative leaders.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 76
- Transparency & Controls: 89
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 68
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.6%; rating input score 76
- Program expense ratio: 82.3%; rating input score 82
- Fundraising efficiency: $24.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- 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: 75%; rating input score 75; 14th 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: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 12.1%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.15; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.1%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.5% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.7% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 75.6% of revenue deployed · 82.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $30.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $867K · 17 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.1M reported
- Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 11 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.
- 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.