Adventure Cycling Association
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237427629
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Missoula, MT, USA
- Phone
- 4067211776
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,886,170
- Expenses
- $5,425,970
- Assets
- $3,760,699
- Liabilities
- $514,195
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MARIA ELENA PRICE (BOARD PRESIDENT)
- DANIEL KANTER (BOARD VICE PRESIDENT)
- JENNIFER O'DELL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR THRU MARCH 2025)
- NICOLETTE BAILEY (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- JENNIFER O'DELL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR THRU MARCH 2025): $143,674 total reported compensation
- NICOLETTE BAILEY (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $128,099 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Adventure cycling association inspires, empowers and connects people to travel by bicycle.
What it reported doing in 2024
The routes and mapping program is the flagship program of adventure cycling with the creation of the transamerica bicycle trail. Core to adventure cycling's educational and charitable purpose is the development of useful materials and tools for distributions to its members and the public. To date, the association has charted 52,848 miles of bike routes, which now comprises the adveture cycling route network. Adventure cycling expands logistical access by designing, devoloping, and curating reliable and safe bicycle touring routes. Access to and from adventure cycling routes is an important factor in getting people engaged in bicycle travel. States are less inclined to prioritize the safety of bicycle travelers unless they have routes designated by the states. Adventure cycling provides technical assistance to state departments of transportation (dot) so they designate miles of u.s. Bicycle routes system (usbrs). These desiganted miles and routes are elevated and better situated within the state dots to receive funding for infrastructure investments to improve safety for cyclists. The usbrs is available on ridewithgps for free to download so anyone can see what those routes are and follow them. The maps have educational information about the history, geology, and geography of the area through which the route travels. The maps also contain important information about services available for bike travelers along the route, such as place to eat, bike-friendly lodging, and bike shops.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 86
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 25
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 94.4%; rating input score 94
- Program expense ratio: 76.8%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.84 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -11%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.69; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 94.4% of revenue deployed · 76.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $4.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $144K · 13 people listed
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $350K reported
- Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 46/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 52/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 53/100.