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Cna Corporation

EIN 54-1558882 · Arlington, VA

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthFair67 out of 100GovernanceStrong100 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

CNA IS A NON-PROFIT RESEARCH ORGANIZATION THAT OPERATES THE CENTER FOR NAVAL ANALYSES, A FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH CENTER THAT HAS SUPPORTED THE NAVY AND MARINE CORPS FOR NEARLY SEVENTY YEARS, AND THE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC RESEARCH THAT PROVIDES SUPPORT TO A BROAD RANGE OF GOVERNMENT CLIENTS IN EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE AND PUBLIC HEALTH, HOMELAND SECURITY, HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT AND AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT. CNA SPECIALIZES IN OBJECTIVE, EMPIRICAL RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS TO HELP DECISION MAKERS DEVELOP SOUND POLICIES, MAKE BETTER-INFORMED DECISIONS, AND MANAGE PROGRAMS MORE EFFECTIVELY.

Income
$151.7 million
Spending
$149.8 million
Spent on programs
84%
Reserves
4.3 months of spending
Largest source of income
government grants, 98%
Employees
707
Volunteers
0
Highest pay
$813,045, president & ceo, trustee

Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Financial health

Fair: 67 out of 100.

  • Reserves

    20 of 35

    Spendable reserves would cover 4.3 months of spending.

  • Debt

    5 of 20

    It owes 61% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    12 of 15

    Income exceeded spending by 1% of income.

  • Income trend

    15 of 15

    Income rose 7% on the year before.

  • Spending floor

    15 of 15

    84% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Governance

Strong: 100 out of 100.

  • Independent board

    25 of 25

    13 of 14 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    8 of 8

    Has a written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    7 of 7

    Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    10 of 10

    Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • Pay set independently

    5 of 5

    Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.

  • Independent check of accounts

    15 of 15

    Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.

  • No reported misuse

    10 of 10

    Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Impact evidence

Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.

Programs described in its return (5)
  1. $36.1 million spent. THE OPERATIONAL WARFIGHTING (OPS) DIVISION FOCUSES ON IMPROVING THE ABILITY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY TO ORGANIZE, PLAN, TRAIN, AND EXECUTE AT THE OPERATIONAL LEVEL OF WARFARE. OPS ANALYSIS TYPICALLY LINKS WARGAMING, CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT, HYPOTHESIS TESTING, AND EXERCISE AND OPERATIONAL ASSESSMENT INTO AN ITERATIVE CYCLE. THE DIVISION'S RESEARCH EMPHASIZES NAVAL INTEGRATION, JOINT AND COMBINED OPERATIONS, CYBER EFFECTS, INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT AND SPECIAL OPERATIONS.
  2. $34.3 million spent. SAFETY & SECURITY (SAS) PROVIDES ANALYSIS AND GUIDANCE TO SUPPORT EVOLVING STANDARDS AND PRACTICES AND GIVES RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING DECISION-MAKING AT ALL LEVELS DURING CRISIS OPERATIONS. WE WORK WITH SENIOR DECISION-MAKERS IN FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL AGENCIES AS WELL AS WITH MEMBERS OF THE HOMELAND SECURITY PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS, FIREFIGHTERS, PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICIALS, AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL PERSONNEL. WE CONSULT WITH EXPERTS AND OFFICIALS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SECURITY ISSUES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION AND TO NUCLEAR, CHEMICAL, AND BIOLOGICAL CONCERNS. AND WE WORK WITH SPECIALISTS IN THE AREAS OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND COMMUNICATIONS AT THE FEDERAL, REGIONAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LEVELS TO IMPROVE THE COORDINATION AND COOPERATION AMONG THESE DISPARATE DECISION-MAKERS.
  3. $23.7 million spent. THE SYSTEMS, TACTICS AND FORCE DEVELOPMENT (STFD) DIVISION PROVIDES CLASSICAL WARFARE ANALYSES TO THE NAVY AND DOD FOCUSED ON SYSTEMS AND PLATFORMS AT THE TACTICAL LEVEL FOR GREAT POWER COMPETITION. STFD CONDUCTS QUANTITATIVE ANALYSES OF FLEET SYSTEMS AND MULTI-MISSION PLATFORMS TO DEVELOP PERFORMANCE ESTIMATES AGAINST CHINA, RUSSIA AND OTHER THREATS. THE DIVISION ANALYZES AND ASSESSES COMBINATIONS OF NETWORKS, SENSORS, WEAPONS, AND PLATFORMS TO PROVIDE MARITIME WARFIGHTING CAPABILITIES IN ALL WARFARE AREAS, UNDER REALISTIC CONDITIONS FOR CURRENT OPERATIONS AND FUTURE-FORCE ARCHITECTURES.
  4. $31.9 million spent. OTHER PROGRAMS (SEE SCHEDULE O)
  5. THE RESOURCES AND FORCE READINESS (RFR) DIVISION PROVIDES ANALYSIS THAT HELPS THE NAVY, MARINE CORPS, AND OTHER SERVICES ADDRESS CRITICAL RESOURCE ALLOCATION CHALLENGES AND MAXIMIZE PERSONNEL READINESS. MILITARY LEADERS RELY ON RESOURCES AND FORCE READINESS ANALYSIS TO DEVELOP EVALUATE AND IMPLEMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS THAT MAKE THEIR PEOPLE, BUDGETS AND ASSETS MORE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT. THE STRATEGY, POLICY, PLANS, AND PROGRAMS (SP3) DIVISION LEVERAGES SOCIAL SCIENCE METHODOLOGIES, FIELD RESEARCH, REGIONAL EXPERTISE, PRIMARY LANGUAGE SKILLS, TRACK 1.5 PARTNERSHIPS, AND POLICY AND OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE TO SUPPORT SENIOR DECISION-MAKERS. THE DIVISION'S WORK IS ALIGNED WITH THE NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY AND HAS REGULARLY INFORMED DECISIONS CRITICAL TO NATIONAL SECURITY. THE CHINA AND INDO-PACIFIC SECURITY AFFAIRS (CIP) DIVISION IS THE LARGEST NON-GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH GROUP STUDYING CHINESE AND INDO-PACIFIC MILITARY AND SECURITY AFFAIRS IN WASHINGTON. CIP ANALYSTS COVER THE COASTAL NATIONS FROM SOUTH ASIA TO NORTHEAST ASIA, INCLUDING OCEANIA, AND ARE FLUENT IN MANDARIN, JAPANESE, RUSSIAN AND HINDI. CNA'S CHINA STUDIES PROGRAM HAS PROVIDED THE GOVERNMENT WITH GREAT POWER COMPETITION RESEARCH ON CHINA FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS. THE MARINE CORPS PROGRAM OVERSEES AND MANAGES ALL ASPECTS OF CNA'S SUPPORT TO THE MARINE CORPS. THE PROGRAM PROVIDES ANALYTIC SUPPORT ON A WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES CRITICAL TO THE MARINE CORPS LEADERSHIP. THIS WORK IS EXECUTED WITHIN THE FFRDC RESEARCH DIVISIONS. IN ADDITION TO CNA HEADQUARTERS-BASED ANALYSTS, CNA ANALYSTS PROVIDE FULL-TIME ON-SITE SUPPORT TO KEY MARINE CORPS OPERATING FORCE COMMANDS AS PART OF OUR FIELD PROGRAM. THE MARINE CORPS PROGRAM ALSO INCLUDES ANALYTIC SUPPORT TO MAJOR EXERCISES AND ON-SITE DEPLOYED SUPPORT FOR ALL MAJOR REAL-WORLD OPERATIONS AND CONTINGENCIES INVOLVING MARINE CORPS FORCES. ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS AND DATA ANALYSIS (ESDA) WITHIN CNA'S INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC RESEARCH PROVIDES OUR CLIENTS WITH WIDE-RANGING TECHNICAL AND ANALYTICAL SUPPORT TO MEET THEIR GOALS. OUR WORK CONSIDERS THE WHOLE OF AN ORGANIZATION, NOT JUST A PORTION IN ISOLATION. WE ANALYZE THE ENTIRETY OF A CLIENT'S SYSTEMS THEIR PEOPLE, PROCESSES, DATA, AND TECHNOLOGY TO IDENTIFY A SOLUTION FOR IMPROVED OPERATIONS. WE ALWAYS BEGIN BY LOOKING AT OUR CLIENTS' DATA TO HELP THEM TO IDENTIFY THE ROOT CAUSE OF PROBLEMS AND TO FIND SOLUTIONS BASED ON THE DATA. THE DATA SCIENCE DIVISION DEVELOPS ADVANCED ANALYTICS AND ALGORITHMS, INCLUDING MACHINE LEARNING AND PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS, TO OPTIMIZE OUTCOMES FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY. THE PROGRAM FOCUSES ON EFFORTS WHERE THE SIZE OF THE DATASETS AND COMPLEXITY OF THE QUESTIONS DEMAND ADVANCED CODING SKILLS FOR DATA WRANGLING AND STATISTICAL AND MODELING TECHNIQUES. THE DSD ALSO SUPPORTS DECISION-MAKERS WITH DESIGN THINKING FACILITATE WORKGROUPS, A SOLUTION FOCUSED METHODOLOGY, AND DYNAMIC, QUICK-TURN EFFORTS.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Legitimacy checks

  1. Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.

    Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  2. Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.

    Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.

    Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.

  3. Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.

    On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

    Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.

  4. Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.

    Most recent return on file covers the year ending September 2025.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since December 1991.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.

  6. Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.

    Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.

    Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.

Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.