Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Oct 1993.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
88 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
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
38 people listed on the 990; $2.4M paid to officers and key staff.
Jack Pelton’s $512K as CEO/Chairman of the Board is at the 75th percentile of top reported officer pay among 139 $10–100M science & technology 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 · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Pelton | $511,737 | $496,361 | $402,414 | $342,612 | $320,124 | $335,165 |
| James Busha | $345,139 | $326,713 | $290,483 | $225,892 | $206,224 | $171,055 |
| Rick Larsen | $281,530 | $270,654 | $260,176 | $206,143 | $241,306 | $243,263 |
| Brian Wierzbinski | — | $235,379 | $251,316 | $198,212 | $243,777 | $272,664 |
| David Chaimson | — | — | — | — | — | $257,110 |
| Sean Elliott | $257,070 | $249,228 | $239,012 | $190,005 | $222,219 | $221,237 |
| Karen Kryzaniak | — | $237,943 | $229,110 | $185,419 | $213,783 | $208,669 |
| Kelly Ruh | $202,057 | $119,792 | — | — | — | — |
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.
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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
Promotes aviation by offering educational programs, flight experiences in vintage aircraft, and activities designed to inspire and guide new participants.
Questions for Experimental Aircraft Association INC
Your first name shows with your question. Experimental Aircraft Association INC answers here, for everyone.
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Airventure
The largest aviation event of its kind is held each year in late july. Airventure educates those attending on aviation and aircraft through exhibits, demonstration airshows, educational sessions, and interactive displays. There were approximately 686,000 airventure attendees.
Membership and Publications
"sport aviation" is a monthly publication issued to members with a variety of educational information on aviation. "airventure today" is a daily newspaper printed every day during airventure. Other various printed and digital publications are produced on a periodic basis to inform and educate members or airventure attendees.
Eaa provides flight experiences in vintage and historical aircraft at local airports to educate the public about the history and role of aircraft over time and inspire a future generation to engage in aviation. These aircraft serve as a living history that holds a remarkable connection to the past.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
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| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $8.9M | $10.3M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $20.6M | $22.2M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $32.8M | $34.4M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $97.8M | $91.8M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $60.1M | $48.5M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $37.7M | $43.3M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $17K | $17K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $2.1M | $2.1M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $1.8M | $1.4M | $416K | |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $12.9M | $5.4M | $7.5M | |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $601K | $295K | $305K | |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $2.1M | $89K | $2.0M | |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $1.1M | $449K | $627K | |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $94K | $94K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $145K | $145K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $50K | $50K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $6.5M | $5.1M | $1.4M | |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $213K | $148K | $65K | |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $1.8M | $1.6M | $174K | |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $867K | $33K | $834K | |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $3.4M | $2.0M | $1.4M | |
| TravelLn 17 | $1.2M | $1.1M | $91K | |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $22K | $17K | $5K | |
| InterestLn 20 | $120K | $120K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $2.3M | $134K | $2.2M | |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $2.0M | $1.4M | $531K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $6.2M | $5.6M | $654K | −$36K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $3.6M | $16.1M | −$13.1M | $595K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $49.0M | $43.0M | $5.5M | $559K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $53.9M | $49.0M | $4.8M | $43.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $50.8M | $48.8M | $2.1M | $37.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $44.6M | $43.2M | $1.4M | $35.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $44.4M | $37.1M | $7.2M | $34.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $18.9M | $27.3M | −$8.5M | $28.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $44.4M | $41.9M | $2.5M | $38.3M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $53,861,538 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 25 of 26 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $53,861,538 across 11 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $49,040,747 across 22 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $91,798,106 assets, 19 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $43,301,583 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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