Bono Volunteer Fire Department

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
752210663
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Cleburne, TX, USA
Phone
8176912347
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fire Prevention

Reported finances

Revenue
$512,200
Expenses
$291,078
Assets
$1,008,950
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Chad Wilson (Chief)
  • Scotty Irons (VP)
  • Ronny McPhearson (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

Bono Volunteer Fire Department provides fire fighting services to a rural area not provided service from any city fire department. The Bono VFD also responds to vehicle accidents. In 2025 the Bono VFD responded to 252 incidents.

What it reported doing in 2025

Voulenteer Fire department responding to rural fires and vehicle accidents

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 91% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 49
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 84
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 42.9%; rating input score 43
  • Program expense ratio: 75.1%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 43.2%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.47; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 42.9% of revenue deployed · 75.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $219K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 43/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.