Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
AAA FOUNDATION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY
AAA FOUNDATION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $350,240 to it, the largest being READING-BERKS AUTO CLUB FOUNDATION FOR SAFETY ($243,423). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $6.1M
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $350k
- Net assets
- $30M
What Aaa Foundation for Traffic Safety does
Mission
The Aaa Foundation for Traffic Safety's mission is to save lives and reduce injuries through research into the causes of traffic crashes, and education about proven strategies for mitigating risks on the road.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Research: in 2025, Aaa Foundation for Traffic Safety (the foundation) published 17 new traffic safety reports, initiated 7 new traffic safety research contracts/agreements, began 6 in-house studies, and continued work on 21 traffic safety research projects initiated in previous years.the foundation funded, managed, and/or performed research in 2025, detailed in the following reports (in chronological order by date of publication): pedestrian fatalities on urban arterial roads at night: an in-depth crash analysis and three case studies; development and validation of messaging to deter cannabis-impaired driving; examination of cannabis users' perceptions and self-reported behaviors to inform messaging to deter impaired driving; alternative transportation and life satisfaction among older drivers: aaa longroad study; a randomized field trial of smartphone-based feedback designed to encourage safe driving: comparing focused and self-chosen goals to standard usage-based insurance messaging; roadside assistance vehicle lighting: review of scientific research and state regulations; increasing the use of smartphone-limiting technology to combat distracted driving; effects of training…
$5,089,868 spent95% of program spendingEducation and outreach: all research reports and findings produced by the Aaa Foundation for Traffic Safety (the foundation) are available online to the general public, free of charge. Additionally, the foundation produces complementary materials for each project so that visitors to the website can find key takeaways from each study. These may include report summaries, infographics, etc. The foundation has provided outreach through conferences, forums, and workshops to a range of audiences including technical experts, key stakeholders, and the general public with the goal of effecting real-world improvements in traffic safety. In 2025, the foundation research findings were presented at numerous conferences and events including: the transportation research board annual meeting; 2025 u.s. Safe system academy; international taskforce on vehicle-highway automation meeting; 2025 conference of aaa independent clubs; mobility innovation week japan 2025; american association for public opinion research annual conference; speed management advisory coop meeting; american public health association annual meeting and expo; fhwa safety service patrol workshop; human factors and ergonomics…
$272,844 spentof which $12,000 as grants$1,305 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,362,712.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $32M to $27M (−17%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Chen-Ye David Yang Phd
President & executive director
Board chair
Mark H Shaw
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income rose $19k → $60k.
1 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of AAA FOUNDATION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
AAA FOUNDATION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 70% of grant income and the top three 94%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 72% · 2018 69% · 2019 66% · 2020 100% · 2021 98% · 2022 81% · 2023 100% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
AAA FOUNDATION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Organizations like AAA FOUNDATION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
26%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 30 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AAA FOUNDATION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds AAA FOUNDATION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY?
- AAA FOUNDATION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $350,240 to it, the largest being READING-BERKS AUTO CLUB FOUNDATION FOR SAFETY ($243,423). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AAA FOUNDATION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $350,240 in grants to AAA FOUNDATION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AAA FOUNDATION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY?
- READING-BERKS AUTO CLUB FOUNDATION FOR SAFETY is the largest funder on record, with $243,423 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AAA FOUNDATION FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 7 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing