Form 990 for tax year 2025

Totals

Total revenue

$2,685,536

Total expenses

$3,064,854

Contributions and grants received

$2,654,137

Grants paid

$987,871

Program service revenue

$6,391

Investment income

$33,119

Other revenue

-$8,111

Total assets, end of year

$1,409,155

Total liabilities, end of year

$642,917

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$766,238

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$1,992,565

Management and general expenses

$170,945

Fundraising expenses

$901,344

Program service expenses (Part III)

$1,992,565

Program services were 65.0% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2025

• COMMANDERS' FORUMS: THE FOUNDATION PROVIDES FUNDING TO ASSIST COMMANDERS IN DEVELOPING AND PROVIDING FORUM OPPORTUNITIES SPECIFICALLY TAILORED TO ENHANCE THEIR MARINES AND SAILORS' KNOWLEDGE OF THE MILITARY HISTORICAL AND OPERATIONAL LESSONS AND HOW THOSE CAN BE APPLIED TO CURRENT CHALLENGES. THE FORUMS CAN RANGE FROM PRESENTATIONS AND DISCUSSIONS WITH NOTED AUTHORS AND SCHOLARS TO A CLASSICAL BATTLE STUDY. PARTICIPATION IN THE BATTLE STUDIES WILL HELP PREPARE A UNIT FOR CURRENT OPERATIONS THROUGH THE STUDY OF MILITARY HISTORY. PARTICIPANTS IN BATTLE STUDIES MAY WALK THE GROUND WITH EXPERTS IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY AND LESSONS LEARNED FROM THESE FAMOUS BATTLES AND CAMPAIGNS. IN ADDITION, MCAF ACTIVELY SEEKS TO PROVIDE RELEVANT, PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION FOR ACTIVE-DUTY MARINES AND OPPORTUNITIES TO STAY ABREAST OF CURRENT ISSUES. THESE FORUMS FEATURE PROMINENT SPEAKERS, KEY DECISION MAKERS AND SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS AND OFFER KEY INSIGHTS AND UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES ON CURRENT MILITARY TOPICS. EVENTS ARE HELD AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS, ALLOWING ACTIVE-DUTY MARINES AND OUR MEMBERS NATIONWIDE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENHANCE THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE, AND GAIN AN APPRECIATION OF CURRENT ISSUES. IN 2025, NEARLY 9,000 MARINE LEADERS (NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS, STAFF NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICERS, AND COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AT MULTIPLE GRADES) PARTICIPATED IN THESE COMMANDERS' FORUMS EVENTS. THE FUNDS PAY FOR SPEAKING FEES, HONORARIUMS, BATTLEFIELD TOUR GUIDES AND OTHER COSTS THAT MARINE UNITS CAN TYPICALLY PAY FOR FROM THEIR OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE FUNDING.

  Expenses $1,578,826 · Grants $875,849

• THE MARINE EXCELLENCE AWARDS PROGRAM WAS ESTABLISHED TO RECOGNIZE THE PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF MARINES AND SAILORS (SERVING IN MARINE CORPS UNITS) AND TO RECOGNIZE SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE IN MARINE CORPS OFFICER AND ENLISTED FORMAL SCHOOLS. THESE AWARDS ARE ALSO GIVEN FOR EXCEPTIONAL WRITTEN WORK. AWARDS ARE A VALUABLE INCENTIVE AND AN APPROPRIATE MEANS OF RECOGNIZING MARINES AND SAILORS WHO EXCEL IN THEIR COMMANDS, FORMAL SCHOOLS, AND LEADERSHIP COURSES. MCAF IS THE LARGEST CONTRIBUTOR OF AWARDS GIVEN TO THE U.S. MARINE CORPS. EACH YEAR MCAF GIVES AWARDS TO APPROXIMATELY 3,500 DESERVING MARINES AND SAILORS, 92 PERCENT OF WHICH GO TO ENLISTED MEN AND WOMEN. THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE AWARDS GIVEN TO OUTSTANDING MARINES: THE HONOR GRADUATE FROM DRILL INSTRUCTOR SCHOOL, RECRUIT TRAINING AWARDS (HONOR GRADUATE RECRUIT, HIGH SHOOTER AND HIGH PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST), THE BASIC OFFICER TRAINING COURSE HONOR GRADUATE, OFFICER CANDIDATES SCHOOL HONOR GRADUATE, AND STAFF NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER ACADEMY HONOR GRADUATE). IN 2025, OVER 3,700 MARINES RECEIVED AWARDS RECOGNIZING THEIR EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE AND THEIR CREATIVE AND PERSUASIVE WRITTEN WORK.

  Expenses $341,747 · Grants $40,030 · Revenue $6,391

• THE COMMANDERS' UNIT LIBRARY PROGRAM PROVIDES COMMANDERS WITH FUNDS TO ESTABLISH AND SUSTAIN THEIR UNIT PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY WHEN THE UTILIZATION OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS IS NOT PRACTICABLE. THE PROGRAM ALLOWS COMMANDERS TO SELECT BOOKS FROM THE MARINE CORPS COMMANDANT'S PROFESSIONAL READING LIST, WHICH ALL MARINES ARE REQUIRED TO READ DURING THEIR SERVICE IN THE CORPS. THE BOOK LIST CONTAINS TIMELESS MILITARY CLASSICS AS WELL AS RECENT BOOKS ON EMERGING AREAS OF INTEREST IN CURRENT MILITARY OPERATIONS AND CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING. SOME UNITS WITH UNIQUE AND EMERGING CAPABILITIES (E.G. UNMANNED VEHICLES/DRONES, CYBERSPACE OPERATIONS) CAN RECEIVE BOOKS SPECIFIC TO THEIR MISSION. IN 2025, 94 MARINE CORPS UNITS (BATTALIONS, SQUADRONS, REGIMENTS, GROUPS, ETC.) RECEIVED BOOKS TO ENHANCE THEIR UNIT LIBRARIES, MAKING PROFESSIONAL READING AVAILABLE TO OVER 37,000 MARINES. IN TOTAL IN 2025, THE MARINE CORPS ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION SPENT OVER $2,038,000 IN SUPPORT OF APPROXIMATELY 50,000 MARINES.

  Expenses $71,992 · Grants $71,992

As filed on the 2025 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

• MARINE CORPS ASSOCIATION

  $150,000

  SUPPORT AND SUSTAINMENT OF MARINE CORPS GAZETTE AND LEATHERNECK MAGAZINES

Related organizations on this return

Schedule R Part II: tax-exempt organizations related to the filer by control. It does not record shared board members or money.

• MARINE CORPS ASSOCIATION

  501(C)(19) · TO SUPPORT THE MARINE CORPS · DC

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2025

Filed

31 August 2026

IRS schema version

2025v4.2

Source object

202642449349301754

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