Big Sky Youth Empowerment Project Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810543203
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2009
Location
Bozeman, MT, USA
Phone
4065519660
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,649,537
Expenses
$1,852,522
Assets
$2,601,545
Liabilities
$836,873

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MELISSA MCKEITHEN (Vice President)
  • MOLLY WOOD (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • DANICA JAMISON (Executive Dir.): $131,543 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Big sky youth empowerment creates a transformative community where vulnerable teenagers experience belonging, purpose, and well-being through group mentorship, adventure, and connection with the natural world. Our vision is that byep teens discover their own capacity for growth and success, confidently contributing towards a kinder and more connected community. Our motto: get outside. Grow inside.

What it reported doing in 2024

In 2024, big sky youth empowerment worked with 175 youth providing 38,233 hours of programming. 68 mentors and tutors provided 7,148 hours of service. Youth participated in 36 weeks of evening workshops and 26 weekend adventures. The weeknight workshop curriculum focused on a wide range of topics including trust, teamwork, communication, coping skills, goal setting, independent living skills, and environmental stewardship.adventures included skiing and snowboarding in winter. Summer adventures included whitewater rafting, outdoor rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking, skateboarding, circus skills, aerial skills, lake days/swimming, paddleboarding, plein air painting, stream ecology, yellowstone national park, Missouri headwaters state park, and floating on the madison river. Fall adventures included biking, hiking, wildflower identification, indoor rock climbing, horseback riding, archery, ceramics, goat & alpaca farm visits, aerial silks, geocaching, hay maze, jumptime, the run for your life 5k, museum of the rockies, and caving at the lewis and clark caverns.we provided tutoring 2 nights per week during the school season and teens engaged in 15 electives workshops held 1 night per week. Electives included baking & cooking, making skis, mindfulness with the Montana mindfulness project, planting, painting/sculpture/art-making, game nights, hiking, visiting the library, videography, writing workshop with local author janet fox, snowboard bench-making, crafting, and combat stage fighting with Montana shakespeare in the parks. Midweek program offerings make it possible for youth to come to our byep teen center up to 5 days per week and get further involved with byep.throughout 2024, we piloted an expansion of mental health support by having a new, highly utilized byep counselor & resource navigator on-site when teens were in the program. We now offer up to 8 free counseling sessions for byep teens on-site.100% graduation / hiset rate of byep teens in 2024, compared to an 86% graduation rate in Montana.77% of teen participants improved their social skills.3 out of 4 teens increased their commitment to learning.79% of teens reported development and growth in their personal values such as helping others, taking responsibility, developing respect for others, and better health habits.studies show that spending 2 hours per week in nature improves wellbeing. Byep teens spend 7 hours outside each week!

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 92% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.1%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 74.5%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $4.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -12.3%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.4; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.1%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.1% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.1% of revenue deployed · 74.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $132K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 34 of 35 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2011 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 15/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.