Black Horse Forge Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 831284005
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2024
- Location
- Fredericksburg, VA, USA
- Phone
- 2406445768
- Rating
- 88
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Military, Veterans' Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $87,723
- Expenses
- $73,885
- Assets
- $97,199
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Steven Hotz (CEO)
- Taylor Gilligan (President)
- John Vilardi (Vice President)
People named in this filing
- Steven Hotz (CEO)
- Taylor Gilligan (President)
- John Vilardi (Vice President)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To provide blacksmithing instruction and a supportive peer community for veterans and first responders to improve mental well-being and reduce the risk of suicide.
What it reported doing in 2025
Black Horse Forge provides hands-on blacksmithing and bladesmithing instruction to veterans, active-duty military, first responders, and their supporters. Our program serves as a community-based intervention designed to reduce veteran suicide and support those living with PTSD by fostering a consistent sense of accomplishment and shared purpose. Unlike one-time experiences, we maintain an ongoing peer community that helps participants rebuild their identity, reduce isolation, and achieve long-term mental and physical stability through the craft of forging. We had over 1200 visits from veterans, active-duty military, first responders, and their supporters during our weekly open forges, weekend veteran classes, and other events.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 75% 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.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 62
- Growth: NotEnoughData
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 84.6%; rating input score 85
- Program expense ratio: 95.3%; rating input score 95
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 15.8%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.32; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: Limited
- Asset growth: Limited
Details
- Where the money goes: 84.6% of revenue deployed · 95.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $70K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- 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.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.