Blue Cow Arts Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
752986802
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Check, VA, USA
Phone
5405296583
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Visual Arts Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$327,954
Expenses
$323,227
Assets
$31,798
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SAM CALHOUN (Vice President)
  • JOHN W MCBROOM (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • SAM CALHOUN (Vice President): $114,553 total reported compensation
  • JESSICA TAYLOR (Secretary): $114,553 total reported compensation
  • JOHN W MCBROOM (President): $20,721 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The organization supports diversity through event promotion, cultural exchange opportunities, and by hosting and providing a forum for musicians, artists, educators, and advocates of sustainabile living and cultural preservation.

What it reported doing in 2025

Donations to local and regional organizations working for the betterment of the local and regional communities through promotion and funding of the arts and enviromentalism.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 65% for direct work, and 35% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 9
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.4%; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.1; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: Limited

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.3% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $272K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $115K · 3 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $100K reported
  • Consistency: 17 of 18 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 2 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.

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 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.