Charity Navigator - Rating for Scouting America

Scouting America

Review Before Proceeding

86%

Three-Star Charity

Impact & Measurement

Accountability & Finance

Culture & Community

Leadership & Adaptability

Scouting America

Profile managed by nonprofit | Is this your nonprofit?

501(c)(3) organization

Donations are tax-deductible

WWW.SCOUTING.ORG

1325 W WALNUT HL LN Irving TX 75038-3008

Mail donations to: P.O. Box 152079 Irving TX 75015

972-580-2000

Irving TX | IRS ruling year: 1965 | EIN: 22-1576300

An EIN is a unique nine-digit number that identifies a business for tax purposes.

Rating Information

Good

This charity's score is 86%, earning it a Three-Star rating.

This overall score is calculated from multiple beacon scores, weighted as follows: 60% Accountability & Finance, 25% Impact & Measurement, 10% Leadership & Adaptability, 5% Culture & Community. Learn more about our criteria and methodology.

Historical Ratings

Charity Navigator's ratings previously did not consider Leadership & Adaptability, Culture & Community, or Impact & Measurement. The historic rating mainly reflects a version of today’s Accountability and Finance score. More information on our previous rating methodologies can be found on our rating methodology page.

Rating histories are available for a growing number of rated organizations. Check back later to see if this organization has a rating history!

Review Before Proceeding—Reported Settlement

On April 21, 2023, NPR reported on a settlement entered into by Scouting America in an article titled, “The Boy Scouts are out of bankruptcy and will pay $2.4 billion to sex abuse survivors.” For more information regarding this matter, please see NPR article.

On December 14, 2018, NBC News published an article titled "Boy Scouts of America considering bankruptcy." For more information, please see NBC News article
On August 7, 2019, NPR published an article titled "New Lawsuit Reveals More Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Boy Scouts Of America." For more information, please see NPR article
On January 7, 2020, The New York Times published an article titled "The New York Times." For more information, please see The New York Times article
On February 1, 2020, The New York Post published an article titled "Boy Scouts bankruptcy is ‘imminent’ amid sexual abuse scandals." For more information, please see The New York Post article
On February 18, 2020, The New York Times published an article titled "Boy Scouts Seek Bankruptcy to Survive a Deluge of Sex-Abuse Claims." For more information, please see The New York Times article
On May 31, 2020, The Star Tribune published an article titled "Boy Scout victims' choice: Sue rashly, or wait and risk loss." For more information, please see The Star Tribune article
On October 23, 2020, USA Today published an article titled "Boy Scouts abuse claims may become largest case against a single national organization." For more information, please see USA Today article
On March 2, 2021, USA Today published an article titled "Boy Scouts of America plan to exit bankruptcy would pay abuse survivors an average of $6,000 each." For more information, please see USA Today article
On March 4, 2021, WBOC published an article titled "Boy Scouts Given more time to Respond to Lawsuit over Assets." For more information, please see WBOC article
On May 11, 2021, The New York Times published an article titled "‘Staggering’ Legal Fees in Boy Scouts Bankruptcy Case." For more information, please see The New York Times article
On June 18, 2021, Bloomberg Law published an article titled "Boy Scouts Proposal Ups Abuse Victim Payout to $750 Million." For more information, please see Bloomberg Law article
On July 2, 2021, The Washington Post published an article titled "Boy Scouts of America settles for $850 million with more than 84,000 sexual abuse victims." For more information, please see The Washington Post article
On October 4, 2021, The Seattle Times published an article titled "‘Can’t put a price tag on pain’: Boy Scouts sex-abuse settlement offers slammed by critics." For more information, please see The Seattle Times article
On October 12, 2021, The Associated Press published an article titled "Ex-Boy Scouts official blasts child-protection efforts." For more information, please see The Associated Press article
On December 13, 2021, The Register Citizen published an article titled "Insurer agrees to $800M settlement in Boy Scouts bankruptcy." For more information, please see The Register Citizen article
On January 5, 2022, The Wall Street Journal published an article titled "Boy Scouts Fall Short of Desired Vote on $2.7 Billion Abuse Settlement." For more information, please see The Wall Street Journal article
On February 10, 2022, CNBC published an article titled "Boy Scouts of America wins key support for $2.7 billion sex abuse settlement." For more information, please see CNBC article
On June 4, 2022, 9 News published an article titled "Scouts sell off camps under strain from sex abuse suits." For more information, please see 9 News article
On July 29, 2022, USA Today published an article titled "Judge approves major parts of Boy Scouts' bankruptcy exit plan; pieces remain unresolved." For more information, please see USA Today article
On August 16, 2022, Reuters published an article titled "Boy Scouts walk back $250 mln abuse settlement with Mormon church." For more information, please see Reuters article
On January 12, 2023, The Salt Lake Tribune published an article titled "New sex abuse lawsuit targets LDS Church, Utah Boy Scout council." For more information, please see The Salt Lake Tribune article
On January 23, 2023, The Philadelphia Inquirer published an article titled "Boy Scouts selling off storied camps under pressure from sex-abuse claims, bankruptcy — and locals are worried." For more information, please see The Philadelphia Inquirer article
On November 3, 2023, The Associated Press published an article titled "Retired businessman will lead Boy Scouts of America as it emerges from scandal-driven bankruptcy." For more information, please see The Associated Press article
On May 7, 2024, The Associated Press published an article titled "Boy Scouts of America changing name to more inclusive Scouting America after years of woes." For more information, please see The Associated Press article
On November 6, 2024, Reuters published an article titled "US court reluctant to blow up Boy Scouts’ $2.46 billion sex abuse settlement." For more information, please see Reuters article
On May 13, 2025, Reuters published an article titled "Boy Scouts organization defeats appeals over $2.46 bln sex abuse settlement." For more information, please see Reuters article

For more information about our alerts methodology, see here.

Accountability & Finance

Score

85

Most Recent Fiscal Year:
FY 2023

This beacon provides an assessment of a charity's financial health (financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness) and its commitment to governance practices and policies.

Learn more

Key Accountability Metrics

Full Credit

Partial Credit

No Credit

Majority Independent Board Members - 100% independent members

8 out of 8 points

Source: IRS Form 990

Independent Board Size - 47 independent members

7 out of 7 points

Industry professionals strongly recommend an independent governing body to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters. For most organizations, we check to see if the organization has at least three independent board members. For large, donor-funded organizations, we check to see if the organization has at least five independent board members

Source: IRS Form 990

Financial Statements - Audit and Oversight Committee

15 out of 15 points

An Audit, Review, or Compilation provides important information about financial accountability and accuracy. Organizations are scored based on their Total Revenue Amount:

Total Revenue Amount	Expectation to Receive Credit
$2 million or higher and 40% or higher donor support	Expected to complete an audit and have an audit oversight committee
$1 million or higher	Expected to complete an audit
$500,000 - $1 million	Expected to complete an audit, review, or compilation
Less than $500,000	No expectation (removed from scoring methodology)

Source: IRS Form 990

Material Diversion of Assets - None

10 out of 10 points

A diversion of assets — any unauthorized conversion or use of the organization's assets other than for the organization's authorized purposes, including but not limited to embezzlement or theft — also can seriously call into question a charity's financial integrity. We review the charity's most recent IRS Form 990 to see if the charity has reported any diversion of assets.

Source: IRS Form 990

Tax Form Disclosures and Policies

Full Credit

Partial Credit

No Credit

Website Listed on Tax Form - Listed

2 out of 2 points

Charity Navigator looks for a website on the IRS Form 990 as an accountability and transparency metric.

Nonprofits act in the public trust and reporting publicly on activities is an important component.

Source: IRS Form 990

Conflict of Interest Policy - Listed

4 out of 4 points

Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a conflict of interest policy on the IRS Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.

This policy protects the organization and by extension those it serves, when it is considering entering into a transaction that may benefit the private interest of an officer, director and/or key employee of the organization.

Source: IRS Form 990

Whistleblower Policy - Listed

4 out of 4 points

Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a whistleblower policy per the IRS Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.

This policy outlines procedures for handling employee complaints, as well as a confidential way for employees to report financial or other types of mismanagement.

Source: IRS Form 990

Document Retention and Destruction - Listed

4 out of 4 points

Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a document retention and destruction policy per the IRS Form 990 as an accountability and transparency measure.

This policy establishes guidelines for the handling, backing up, archiving and destruction of documents. These guidelines foster good record keeping procedures that promote data integrity.

Source: IRS Form 990

Documents Board Meeting Minutes - Yes

2 out of 2 points

Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the IRS Form 990 that the organization has this process in place as an accountability and transparency measure.

An official record of the events that take place during a board meeting ensures that a contemporaneous document exists for future reference.

Source: IRS Form 990

Website Disclosures

Full Credit

Partial Credit

No Credit

Form 990 indicates tax form is available on nonprofit's website - Yes

4 out of 4 points

For almost all charities, we check the charity's IRS Form 990 to see if it discloses that the Form 990 is available on the charity's website. As with the audited financial statement, donors need easy access to this financial report to help determine if the organization is managing its financial resources well.

Source: IRS Form 990

Financial Metrics

Full Credit

Partial Credit

No Credit

Liabilities to Assets Ratio: 76.75%

0 out of 15 points

The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent IRS Form 990). This ratio is an indicator of an organization's solvency and/or long-term sustainability.

Source: IRS Form 990

Program Expense Ratio: 86.49%

25 out of 25 points

The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three IRS Forms 990). This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver.

Source: IRS Form 990

Additional Information

Total Revenue and Expenses - Data Available

This chart displays the trend of revenue and expenses over the past several years for this organization, as reported on their IRS Form 990.

Click or hover over the bar to see exact $ amount

Salary of Key Persons - Data Available

The compensation data below shows the five highest paid individuals at this charity. The amount includes salary, cash bonuses, and compensation from related organizations. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on Form W-2.

Roger C Mosby, President/chief Executive Officer (through Dec 2023)

$936,168

Michael A Ashline, Treasurer/chief Financial Officer (through Dec 2023)

$669,986

Joseph Zirkman, Secretary/general Counsel

$643,601

Lisa Young, Svp Human Resources

$393,728

Lisa Shorb, Evp Administration & Chief Of Staff

$358,010

Additionally, we highlight the ratio between the highest-paid employee and the average compensation across the nonprofit to determine whether compensation practices reflect industry standards while supporting the nonprofit's mission.

The compensation ratio for this nonprofit is 46.3 which indicates the highest paid employee earns 46.3 times more than the average staff member. Our data show the high-average compensation ratio for medium to super-sized charities is expected to fall between 1 and 24.

Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2023

IRS Published Data (Business Master File) - Data Available

Below are some key data points from the Exempt Organization IRS Business Master File (BMF) for this organization. Learn more about the BMF on the IRS website

Foundation Status:

Organization which receives a substantial part of its support from a governmental unit or the general public 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) (BMF foundation code: 15)

Affiliation:

Central - the organization is a parent (group ruling) and is not a church or 501(c)(1) organization. (BMF affiliation code: 6)

Data Sources (IRS Forms 990) - Data Available

The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage accountability and finance data from it to form Encompass ratings. Click here to search for this organization's Forms 990 on the IRS website (if any are available). Simply enter the organization's name (Scouting America) or EIN (221576300) in the 'Search Term' field.