FRA LLC's purpose is the management and operation of Fermilab, an international scientific user facility owned by the US Dept of Energy at which the fundamental nature of matter and energy is studied.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
100¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 25 volunteers and 2,190 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · 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
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
4 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $1.7M a year · under 1% of revenue · last 5 filings
Fine: a surplus in 4 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
100%
of spending
Looks good: 100% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$15.5M
to officers and key staff · 2% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 2% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
<1 mo
of spending, in cash
Concern: 0.0 months of spending in cash; under 2 weeks.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $88K
Fine: 1 funder names it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$18.8M
100% of total assets
Concern: liabilities are 100% of assets; over 80%.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
11
of 14 voting members
Looks good: 11 of 14 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$715.5M
+9% vs prior year
Spent
$715.6M
To programs
100%
Net assets
$62K
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$715.5M
FY2024▲ +9%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$512.8M
FY2021$577.1M
FY2022$593.8M
FY2023$658.7M
FY2024$715.5M
Expenses
$715.6M
FY2024▲ +9%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$510.0M
FY2021$574.4M
FY2022$591.2M
FY2023$658.2M
FY2024$715.6M
Net assets
$62K
FY2024▼ -60%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$2.2M
FY2021$2.1M
FY2022$2.1M
FY2023$155K
FY2024$62K

From the FY2024 Form 990 (year ending September 2024) · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

Give Claim

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Feb 2007.

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

Where the money goes

100 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 100% · $713.1M Management & general 1% · $7.3M

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

88 people listed on the 990; $15.5M paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2023); the FY2024 filing did not itemize Part VII
$698,657Pt VII · Sec A
$698,657Pt VII · Sec A
Deputy Director/Chief Research Officer
$496,917Pt VII · Sec A
Deputy Director/Chief Research Officer
$496,917Pt VII · Sec A
Deputy Lab Director and COO Through 12/30/2023
$494,794Pt VII · Sec A
Deputy Lab Director and COO Through 12/30/2023
$494,794Pt VII · Sec A
Deputy Lab Director for Lbnf/Dune-US Through 04/18/2024
$375,313Pt VII · Sec A
Deputy Lab Director for Lbnf/Dune-US Through 04/18/2024
$375,313Pt VII · Sec A

Nikolitsa Lia Merminga’s $699K as President is at the 30th percentile of top reported officer pay among 43 $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

NameFY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Nigel Lockyer$216,962$429,961$841,532$580,619$814,880
Nikolitsa Lia Merminga$698,657————
Nikolitsa (lia) Merminga—$504,479$338,796——
Bonnie Fleming$496,917$162,274———
Scott Tingey$494,794————
Christopher Mossey$375,313$357,170$311,599$305,486$296,729
Richard Goffi$364,781————
Teresa Ann Nightengale$359,484————

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 2Yes
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Operates a national lab for studying matter and energy's fundamental nature.

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2 programs · $1.4B · in their own filed words · FY2023
01

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE) AWARDED THE MANAGEMENT AND OPERATING CONTRACT FOR FERMI NATIONAL ACCELERATOR LABORATORY (FERMILAB) TO FRA, LLC, EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2007-December 31,2025.

$713.1Mprogram expense
02

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE) AWARDED THE MANAGEMENT AND OPERATING CONTRACT FOR FERMI NATIONAL ACCELERATOR LABORATORY (FERMILAB) TO FRA, LLC, EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2007-December 31,2025.

$708.3Mprogram 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 · FY2024
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$88K
Grants paid · 13 grants · $1.5M · 2019–2023
Unitemized GrantFY2023$243,011
Unitemized GrantFY2023$243,011
Unitemized GrantFY2023$22,903
Unitemized GrantFY2023$22,903
Unitemized GrantFY2022$231,677
Unitemized GrantFY2022$13,719
Unitemized GrantFY2021$225,897
Unitemized GrantFY2021$15,209
Unitemized GrantFY2020$205,000
Unitemized GrantFY2020$6,000
Unitemized GrantFY2019$208,750
Unitemized GrantFY2019$20,300
Unitemized GrantFY2019$7,600

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$715.5M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$713.8M
Other incomeLn 4–11$1.7M
Investment incomeLn 3$3K
Money outPt IX
$715.6M
Ln 25
Programscol B$713.1M
Managementcol C$7.3M
Owns and owesPt X
$62K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$681K
Total assetsLn 16$18.9M
LiabilitiesLn 26$18.8M
PeoplePt VI, VII
88
listed · VII A
PaidVII A53
Voting boardVI 1a14
IndependentVI 1b11
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$713.8M
Government grantsLn 1e$713.8M
Investment incomeLn 3$3K
Other incomeLn 4–11$1.7M
Total revenueLn 12$715.5M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$681K
Total assetsLn 16$18.9M
LiabilitiesLn 26$18.8M
Net assetsLn 32$62K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 52,190
VolunteersI 625
Fiscal year endsHeaderSeptember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 Latest Viewing $715.5M$715.6M−$92K$62K 990 PDF
FY2023 $658.7M$658.2M$555K$155K 990 PDF
FY2022 $593.8M$591.2M$2.6M$2.1M 990 PDF
FY2021 $577.1M$574.4M$2.7M$2.1M 990 PDF
FY2020 $512.8M$510.0M$2.8M$2.2M 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support J · Pay O · Explanations
See the full FY2024 990 (1 part)
Part VI · Governance 11 of 14 board members independent, 1 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body14
VI-1b Independent voting members11
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsYes
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes

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

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