Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810251379
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2012
Forms available
Form 990 2012
Location
Missoula, MT, USA
Phone
4065415000
Rating confidence
Limited

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$26,512,218
Expenses
$23,456,552
Assets
$73,107,828
Liabilities
$26,596,519

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2012. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2012. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Named after the Blackfoot River, the Cooperative offers services to 22 rural exchanges within a 6,500-square mile, seven-county region in western Montana and Idaho. A non-profit corporation, Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative, Inc. is owned by its customers.

What it reported doing in 2012

Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative makes telephone service and facilities available to the widest practical number of users on a non-profit, cooperative basis.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 87% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 51
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.5%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.12; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.36; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.4%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $334K · 21 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed
  • Consistency: 11 of 12 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2010 to 2012
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.