Civil Air Patrol
Civil Air Patrol
Maxwell Afb AL | IRS ruling year: 1947 | EIN: 75-6037853
Volunteers serving America's communities, saving lives, and shaping futures.
Your donation attempt encountered a problem. Please refresh the page to try again.
You're faster than our page! Give the page a little longer to finish loading and try your donation again.
Maxwell Afb AL | IRS ruling year: 1947 | EIN: 75-6037853
Volunteers serving America's communities, saving lives, and shaping futures.
Great
This charity's score is 100%, earning it a Four-Star rating. If this organization aligns with your passions and values, you can give with confidence.
This overall score is calculated from multiple beacon scores: 80% Accountability & Finance, 10% Leadership & Adaptability, 10% Culture & Community. Learn more about our criteria and methodology.
We recognize that not all metrics and beacons equally predict a charity’s success. The percentage each beacon contributes to the organization’s overall rating depends on the number of beacons an organization has earned.
Use the tool below to select different beacons to see how the weighting shifts when only one, two, or three beacons are earned.
Rating histories are available for a growing number of rated organizations. Check back later to see if this organization has a rating history!
The IRS is significantly delayed in processing nonprofits' annual tax filings (Forms 990). As a result, the Accountability & Finance score for Civil Air Patrol is outdated and the overall rating may not be representative of its current operations. Please check with the charity directly for any questions you may have.
Civil Air Patrol has earned a 100% for the Accountability & Finance beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of a charity's financial health (financial efficiency, sustainability, and trustworthiness) and its commitment to governance practices and policies.
This Accountability & Finance score represents IRS Form 990 data up until FY 2019, which is the most recent Form 990 currently available to us.
Learn more
Charity Navigator looks for at least 3 board members, with more than 50% of those members identified as independent (not salaried).
The presence of an independent governing body is strongly recommended by many industry professionals to allow for full deliberation and diversity of thinking on governance and other organizational matters.
Source: IRS Form 990
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 |
---|---|
$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
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a conflict of interest policy on the 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
Charity Navigator looks to confirm on the 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
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a document retention and destruction policy per the 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
Charity Navigator looks for the existence of a whistleblower policy per the 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
Charity Navigator looks for a website on the 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
The Liabilities to Assets Ratio is determined by Total Liabilities divided by Total Assets (most recent 990). This ratio is an indicator of an organization’s solvency and/or long-term sustainability.
Liabilities to Assets Ratio | Amount of Credit Received |
---|---|
Less than 50% | Full Credit |
50% - 59.9% | Partial Credit |
60% or more | No Credit |
Source: IRS Form 990
The Program Expense Ratio is determined by Program Expenses divided by Total Expense (average of most recent three 990s). This measure reflects the percent of its total expenses a charity spends on the programs and services it exists to deliver.
Program Expense Percentage | Amount of Credit Received |
---|---|
70% or higher | Full Credit |
60% - 69.9% | Partial Credit |
50% - 59.9% | Zero Points for Program Expense Score |
Below 50% | Zero Points for Both Program Expense AND Liabilities to Assets Scores |
Source: IRS Form 990
This chart displays the trend of revenue and expenses over the past several years for this organization, as reported on their IRS Form 990.
Presented here are up to five of this organization's highest compensated employees. This compensation data includes salary, cash bonuses, and expense accounts and is displayed exactly how it is reported to the IRS. The amounts do not include nontaxable benefits, deferred compensation, or other amounts not reported on Form W-2. In some cases, these amounts may include compensation from related organizations. Read the IRS policies for compensation reporting
Source: IRS Form 990 (page 7), filing year 2019
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
Activities:
Other school related activities (BMF activity code: 059)
Patriotic activities (BMF activity code: 908)
Scholarships (other) (BMF activity code: 040)
Foundation Status:
Organization that normally receives no more than one-third of its support from gross investment income and unrelated business income and at the same time more than one-third of its support from contributions, fees, and gross receipts related to exempt purposes. 509(a)(2) (BMF foundation code: 16)
Affiliation:
Independent - the organization is an independent organization or an independent auxiliary (i.e., not affiliated with a National, Regional, or Geographic grouping of organizations). (BMF affiliation code: 3)
The Form 990 is a document that nonprofit organizations file with the IRS annually. We leverage finance and accountability 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 (Civil Air Patrol) or EIN (756037853) in the 'Search Term' field.
This organization was impacted by COVID-19 in a way that effected their financial health in 2020. This normally would have reduced their star rating. Due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, we give charities such as this one the opportunity to share the story of COVID's impact on them, and doing this pauses our revision of their rating. Charities may submit their own pandemic responses through their nonprofit portal.
Civil Air Patrol reported being impacted by COVID-19 in the following ways:
Fundraising Capacity
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's operations financially:
Civil Air Patrol is unique in being both a 501(c)3 and the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary. While our organization is newer to fundraising to support scholarships and improving the reach of our programs, we do have appropriated support for many of our staff positions and operations. COVID-19 definitely impacted donations and the ability to make corporation and foundation requests.
How COVID-19 impacted the organization's delivery of programs:
A COVID-19 response team implemented a remobilization plan to manage the process by which members could resume regularly scheduled meetings, one-day activities, and overnight activities. In 2020 and 2021, most of those activities were limited to groups less than 10 and moved to virtual. Many of the summer and winter encampments were cancelled. Program participation has varied based on geographic risk levels. Overall, CAP did experience a reduction in some programming, specifically youth development and education.
How this organization adapted to changing conditions caused by COVID-19:
During 2020 and 2021, CAP mobilized to provide 40 states and Puerto Rico with COVID-19 mission support that ranged from flying test kits, ventilators, vaccines and critical personal protective equipment to remote hospitals to serving millions of packaged meals to those in need. While maintaining strict safety protocols, CAP’s mobilization in support of COVID-19 missions was the largest coordinated effort since World War II. In the time period of March 2020 - September 2021, CAP provided more than 47,000 days of support at a value of more than $10M for volunteer service. External changes also created a foundational point within our strategic planning efforts and are reflected in the 2022-2026 plan to focus on digital transformation, enterprise risk management, innovation, outcome evaluation and meeting our members and future members in how they connect, learn, and communicate.
Innovations the organization intends to continue permanently after the pandemic:
Our youth development program for ages 12-21 continued during the pandemic with the replacement of weekly in-person meetings move to virtual meetings. We currently have a workgroup designed to create the future of "virtual squadrons" to reach areas which otherwise would not be able to participate. We anticipate this will provide great access in rural areas.
Not Currently Scored
Civil Air Patrol cannot currently be evaluated by our Impact & Results methodology because either (A) it is eligible, but we have not yet received data; (B) we have not yet developed an algorithm to estimate its programmatic impact; (C) its programs are not direct services; or (D) it is not heavily reliant on contributions from individual donors.
Note: The absence of a score does not indicate a positive or negative assessment, it only indicates that we have not yet evaluated the organization.
Learn More
Civil Air Patrol reported its three largest programs on its FY 2019 Form 990 as:
Spent in most recent FY
Percent of program expenses
EMERGENCY SERVICES: CAP SUPPORTED SEARCH AND RESCUE (SAR) MISSIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. CAP SAVED LIVES ON THESE SAR MISSIONS TASKED BY THE AIR FORCE RESCUE COORDINATION CENTER AND JOINT RESCUE COORDIN ... (More)
EMERGENCY SERVICES: CAP SUPPORTED SEARCH AND RESCUE (SAR) MISSIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. CAP SAVED LIVES ON THESE SAR MISSIONS TASKED BY THE AIR FORCE RESCUE COORDINATION CENTER AND JOINT RESCUE COORDINATION CENTERS. PERSONNEL SUPPORTED HOMELAND SECURITY EFFORTS BY FLYING CAP AIRCRAFTS IN INTERCEPT TRAINING FOR THE AIR FORCE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. CAP ALSO FLEW IN SUPPORT OF FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES ON DRUG INTERDICTION MISSIONS ALONG THE BORDER, OVER FEDERAL PROPERTY, AND IN SUPPORT OF COMBINED FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL TASK FORCES RESULTING IN ILLEGAL DRUGS, CURRENCY, AND PROPERTY BEING SEIZED BY THOSE AGENCIES ALONG WITH ARRESTS BEING MADE. CAP ALSO RESPONDED TO NUMEROUS NATURAL DISASTERS, PRIMARILY TAKING AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS FOR USE BY LOCAL OFFICIALS AND RESPONDERS TO ASSESS DAMAGE ALLOCATING THEIR OWN FUNDS AND RESOURCES EFFECTIVELY. WITH VOLUNTEER MEMBERS FROM VARIOUS BACKGROUNDS AND CAP'S EXTENSIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING, CAP DELIVERS QUALITY AND RELIABLE SERVICES THAT ARE ALSO COST-EFFECTIVE. (Less)
Spent in most recent FY
Percent of program expenses
CADET PROGRAMS: THE CAP CADET PROGRAM TRANSFORMS YOUTH AGED 12 TO 20 INTO RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS AND AEROSPACE LEADERS. CADETS DEVELOP LEADERSHIP SKILLS, EXPLORE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN AEROSPACE AND CY ... (More)
CADET PROGRAMS: THE CAP CADET PROGRAM TRANSFORMS YOUTH AGED 12 TO 20 INTO RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS AND AEROSPACE LEADERS. CADETS DEVELOP LEADERSHIP SKILLS, EXPLORE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN AEROSPACE AND CYBER, BECOME PHYSICALLY FIT, AND EMBRACE A SET OF LIFELON (Less)
Spent in most recent FY
Percent of program expenses
AEROSPACE EDUCATION AND TRAINING: CAP'S AEROSPACE EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND RESOURCE MATERIALS, EMPHASIZING THE STEM SUBJECTS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH, WERE USED BY STUDENTS AND TEAC ... (More)
AEROSPACE EDUCATION AND TRAINING: CAP'S AEROSPACE EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND RESOURCE MATERIALS, EMPHASIZING THE STEM SUBJECTS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH, WERE USED BY STUDENTS AND TEACHERS NATIONWIDE. NEW STEM KITS, TO INCLUDE ROBOTICS, REM (Less)
Civil Air Patrol has earned a 99% for the Culture & Community beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of the organization's culture and connectedness to the community it serves.
Learn more
30% of beacon score
This organization reported that it is collecting feedback from the constituents and/or communities it serves. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations that engage in inclusive practices, such as collecting feedback from the people and communities they serve, may be more effective.
Who are the people you serve with your mission? Describe briefly.
volunteers, community members, youth, K-12 children
How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Community meetings or town halls, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees, Suggestion box/email
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
With whom does your organization share the feedback you got from the people you serve?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners
How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship with them or shifted power - over decisions, resources, rules or in other ways - to them?
Upgraded member professional development program to Volunteer University, led by senior volunteer leaders
What challenges does your organization face in collecting feedback from the people you serve?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Briefly describe a recent change that your organization made in response to feedback from the people you serve.
Upgraded member professional development program to Volunteer University
70% of beacon score
This organization's score of 98 is a passing score. The organization reported that it is implementing 10 Equity Practices. Charity Navigator believes nonprofit organizations implementing effective equity policies and practices can enhance a nonprofit's decision-making, staff motivation, innovation, and effectiveness.
Equity Practices (5/7) | |
---|---|
We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race. | |
We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and/or portfolios. | |
We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization/'s programs, portfolios, and the populations served. | |
We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support. | |
We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders. | |
We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured | |
We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization. |
Equity Policies and Procedures (5/7) | |
---|---|
We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity. | |
We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions. | |
We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization. | |
We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board. | |
We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability. | |
We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team. | |
We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization. |
Civil Air Patrol has earned a 100% for the Leadership & Adaptability beacon. See the metrics below for more information.
This beacon provides an assessment of the organization's leadership capacity, strategic thinking and planning, and ability to innovate or respond to changes in constituent demand/need or other relevant social and economic conditions to achieve the organization's mission.
Learn more
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization's mission
Volunteers Serving America's Communities, Saving Lives, and Shaping Futures.
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking through articulating the organization’s vision.
Volunteers Serving America's Communities, Saving Lives, and Shaping Futures. (In 2021, we created a shared mission/vision statement)
Source: Nonprofit submitted responses
The nonprofit organization presents evidence of strategic thinking and goal setting through sharing their most important strategic goals.
Goal One: Preparing the organization for the future as a disciplined and effective nonprofit
Goal Type: Invest in the capacity of our organization (financial, management, technical, etc.).
Goal Two: Shaping lives, building character and ready young people for futures in aerospace and beyond
Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.
Goal Three: Innovating across the enterprise and explore new ways to provide relevant solutions to the dynamic nation we serve.
Goal Type: New program(s) based on observed changes in needs among our constituencies/communities served.
The nonprofit provides evidence of investment in leadership development
As an organization with more than 56,000 volunteer members, Civil Air Patrol transitioned from an older professional development program to "Volunteer University" in August of 2020. Offering more than 385 online and off-site courses with more than 300 instructors and managed within twenty specialty tracks. The program covers five-tiers to support the 37,000 adult members in achieving training for current and future leaders. In addition , the organization added a full-time learning officer (CPLP) with oversight of the learning management system and access for all employees to Linked-In Learning. All departments have access to education and training dollars for conferences, and continuing education in their profession and to support any certifications, credentials they may hold or strive to achieve.
The nonprofit provides evidence of leadership through focusing externally and mobilizing resources for the mission.
Strategic Partnerships
Networks of Collective Impact Efforts
Thought Leadership
Raising Awareness
Community Building
Policy Advocacy
CAP has a growing development, marketing and partnership effort which is reflected in the strategic plan to strengthen over the next five years. CAP holds a number of strategic partnerships which are active and publicized in support of search and rescue, emergency response, youth development, cyber and aerospace education opportunities on a national, state and most often impactful on a community level.
The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
During 2020 and 2021, CAP mobilized to provide 40 states and Puerto Rico with COVID-19 mission support that ranged from flying test kits, ventilators, vaccines and critical personal protective equipment to remote hospitals to serving millions of packaged meals to those in need. While maintaining strict safety protocols, CAP’s mobilization in support of COVID-19 missions was the largest coordinated effort since World War II. In the time period of March 2020 - September 2021, CAP provided more than 47,000 days of support at a value of more than $10M for volunteer service. Our efforts continue in 2021 with an expanded focus through Operation Pulse Lift offering collection centers for blood donations as a partner with the American Red Cross. External changes also created a foundational point within our strategic planning efforts and are reflected in the 2022-2026 plan to focus on digital transformation, enterprise risk management, innovation, outcome evaluation and meeting our members and future members in how they connect, learn, and communicate.
Impact & Results
Accountability & Finance
Culture & Community
Leadership & Adaptability
The Giving Basket is having some issues. If you wish to donate, please refresh the page. If the problem persists contact us.
Cart ID: Not Assigned
The Giving Basket is having some issues. If you wish to donate, please refresh the page. If the problem persists contact us.
Cart ID: Not Assigned