System Dynamics Society INC

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501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
79¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 645 volunteers.
Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2024 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
The IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
The latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
5 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $70K a year · 12% of revenue · last 5 filings
A surplus in 5 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
79%
of spending
79% of spending went to programs.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$111K
to officers and key staff · 18% of spending
Pay to officers and key staff is 18% of spending.
Part VII, Section A
7.2 mo
of spending, in cash
Plus $1.3M in investments, Pt X · Ln 11–13
7.2 months of spending in cash.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $27
1 funder names it on their filings.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$93K
5% of total assets
Liabilities are 5% of assets.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
24
of 24 voting members
24 of 24 voting members are independent.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Revenue
$733K
+18% vs prior year
Spent
$631K
To programs
79%
Net assets
$1.7M
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$733K
FY2024▲ +18%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$482K
FY2021$552K
FY2022$595K
FY2023$622K
FY2024$733K
Expenses
$631K
FY2024▲ +10%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$461K
FY2021$450K
FY2022$518K
FY2023$572K
FY2024$631K
Net assets
$1.7M
FY2024▲ +19%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$1.1M
FY2021$1.3M
FY2022$1.2M
FY2023$1.4M
FY2024$1.7M

From the FY2024 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Dec 1986.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

79 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 79% · $496K Management & general 18% · $112K Fundraising 4% · $23K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

25 people listed on the 990; $111K paid to officers and key staff (Part VII, Section A).

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Executive Director
$111,138Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Rebecca Niles’s $111K as Executive Director is at the 87th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1612 $100K–1M education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 2 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Rebecca Niles$111,138$110,427$101,138$113,751$101,332
Shayne Gary————$2,000

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

See System Dynamics Society INC executive salaries →

Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

System Dynamics Society INC is an education nonprofit based in Littleton, MA.

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1 program · $496K · in their own filed words · FY2024
01

System dynamics society, inc. Provided a forum in which researchers, educators, consultants, and practitioners in the corporate and public sectors interact to introduce newcomers to the field, keep abreast of current developments, and build on each other's work. During 2024, approximately 1,401 individuals were served.

Form 990 Part III, line 4, FY2024. The organization’s own words, as filed with the IRS. Find it at the IRS (EIN 22-2738769) · Dispute this line
$496Kprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2023
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$27
Grants paid · 10 grants · $23K · 2021–2024
Unitemized GrantFY2024$5,000
Unitemized GrantFY2024$2,500
Unitemized GrantFY2023$3,000
Unitemized GrantFY2023$2,500
Unitemized GrantFY2023$1,000
Unitemized GrantFY2023$500
Unitemized GrantFY2023$500
Unitemized GrantFY2023$500
Unitemized GrantFY2021$5,188
Unitemized GrantFY2021$2,500

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$733K
Ln 12
Fees for servicesLn 2g$548K
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$138K
Investment incomeLn 3$25K
Money outPt IX
$631K
Ln 25
Programscol B$496K
Managementcol C$112K
Fundraisingcol D$23K
Owns and owesPt X
$1.7M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$380K
Total assetsLn 16$1.8M
LiabilitiesLn 26$93K
PeoplePt VI, VII
25
listed · VII A
PaidVII A1
Voting boardVI 1a24
IndependentVI 1b24
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$138K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$548K
Investment incomeLn 3$25K
Other incomeLn 4–11$21K
Gains on assetsLn 7$530
Total revenueLn 12$733K
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$88K
SavingsLn 2$292K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$380K
Accounts receivableLn 4$62K
Inventories for sale or useLn 8$9K
Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesLn 9$35K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$1.3M
Total assetsLn 16$1.8M
LiabilitiesLn 26$93K
Net assetsLn 32$1.7M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 50
VolunteersI 6645
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13No
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$224K$380K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$1.1M$1.3M
Total assetsLn 16$1.5M$1.8M
LiabilitiesLn 26$87K$93K
Net assetsLn 32$1.4M$1.7M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$8K$8K
Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3$2K$2K
Pay of officers and key staff (Part IX, line 5)Ln 5$119K$103K$11K$6K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$11K$10K$1K$555
Other employee benefitsLn 9$3K$2K$256$141
Payroll taxesLn 10$10K$8K$890$487
Investment management feesLn 11f$3K$3K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$183K$95K$77K$11K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$12K$12K
Office expensesLn 13$43K$35K$6K$3K
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$180K$180K$224
InsuranceLn 23$2K$2K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$56K$54K$411$2K
Total functional expensesLn 25$631K$496K$112K$23K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 Latest ViewingFiled with the IRS Nov 12, 2025 $733K$631K$101K$1.7M 990 PDF
FY2023Filed with the IRS Oct 23, 2024 $622K$572K$49K$1.4M 990 PDF
FY2022Filed with the IRS Nov 15, 2023 $595K$518K$77K$1.2M 990 PDF
FY2021Filed with the IRS Jul 5, 2022 $552K$450K$102K$1.3M 990 PDF
FY2020Filed with the IRS Jun 4, 2021 $482K$461K$21K$1.1M 990 PDF

Schedules filed Part IV

A · Public support I · Grants O · Explanations
See the full FY2024 990
Part I · Summary $732,563 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $124,048$138,080
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $435,717$548,285
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $27,710$25,508
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $34,089$20,690
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $621,564$732,563
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $14,582$9,000
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $145,446$143,123
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $412,191$479,186
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $572,219$631,309
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $49,345$101,254
Part VI · Governance 24 of 24 board members independent, 1 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body24
VI-1b Independent voting members24
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyNo
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $732,563 across 6 lines filed
Lines not itemized here account for $20,690 of total revenue; see the IRS return.
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$138,080
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$138,080
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $548,285$548,285
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $24,978$24,978
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax $530$530
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $568,975 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $25,508$732,563
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $631,309 across 13 lines filed
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $7,500$7,500
IX-3 Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsPrograms $1,500$1,500
IX-5 Pay of officers and key staff (Part IX, line 5)Programs $102,546 · Management $10,750 · Fundraising $5,888$119,184
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $9,660 · Management $1,013 · Fundraising $555$11,228
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $2,447 · Management $256 · Fundraising $141$2,844
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $8,490 · Management $890 · Fundraising $487$9,867
IX-11f Investment management feesManagement $2,577$2,577
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $95,117 · Management $76,903 · Fundraising $11,435$183,455
IX-12 Advertising and promotionManagement $12,166$12,166
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $34,879 · Management $5,835 · Fundraising $2,534$43,248
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $179,921 · Fundraising $224$180,145
IX-23 InsuranceManagement $1,612$1,612
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $53,775 · Management $411 · Fundraising $1,797$55,983
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $495,835 · Management $112,413 · Fundraising $23,061$631,309
Part X · Balance sheet $1,783,279 assets, 15 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $209,822$88,018
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $14,030$292,172
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $78,550$62,384
X-8 Inventories for sale or useStart of year $13,799$8,847
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $80,059$34,757
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $1,116,824$1,297,101
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $1,513,084$1,783,279
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $45,074$36,467
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $40,079$54,832
X-21 Escrow or custodial accountsStart of year $2,125$1,960
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $87,278$93,259
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $1,080,926$1,263,496
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $344,880$426,524
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $1,425,806$1,690,020
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $1,513,084$1,783,279
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,690,020 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$732,563
XI-2 Total expenses$631,309
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$101,254
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$1,425,806
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$162,960
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$1,690,020

Form 990 e-file FY2024 from the IRS (about our sources) · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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