Bigfoot Trail Alliance

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474468143
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Bayside, CA, USA
Phone
5412315906
Rating
59
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Quality, Protection, and Beautification N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$369,521
Expenses
$257,664
Assets
$205,383
Liabilities
$26,848

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Steve Salzman (Vice President)
  • Laura Chapman (President)

People named in this filing

  • Jacob Shinners (Director)
  • Gabrielle Gopinath (Director)
  • Ken Mierzwa (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The Bigfoot Trail Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is working to support the establishment of the 360 mile route through the Klamath Mountains to celebrate the regions biodiversity. The BFTA fosters a community committed to maintaining, promoting, and protectingin perpetuitythe Bigfoot Trail.

What it reported doing in 2025

Trailwork- Bigfoot Trail Alliance (BFTA) trail crews and volunteers restore and maintain remote backcountry routes across Northwest California, reopening miles of trail lost to wildfire, storms, and time. Through hands-on stewardship, BFTA keeps these pathways aliveensuring safe passage for hikers, stock users, and future generations while protecting the ecological integrity of the landscapes they traverse.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 81% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

MIXED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 0
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 59.5%; rating input score 60
  • Program expense ratio: 85.4%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $28.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 15th 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 0 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 30.3%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.8; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 45.6% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 28.9% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 59.5% of revenue deployed · 85.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 11 board members independent · 0 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $220K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.