Cheyenne Frontier Days Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 830297781
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Cheyenne, WY, USA
- Phone
- 3077787200
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $26,836,258
- Expenses
- $23,328,652
- Assets
- $46,795,384
- Liabilities
- $4,896,485
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- TOM HIRSIG (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)
Highest reported compensation
- TOM HIRSIG (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $428,586 total reported compensation
- JIM WILKINSON (EMPLOYEE): $156,439 total reported compensation
- JEANNIE GEBHART (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $153,791 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
While preserving more than a century of western heritage, cheyenne frontier days will strive to continually explore and implement new endeavors that provide an unforgettable and unique experience to its guests. Cheyenne frontier days, "the daddy of 'em all", is the premier western celebration in the world.
What it reported doing in 2024
The purpose of this corporation is to plan, produce, promote and manage a western celebration known as "cheyenne frontier days." its objectives are to enhance the economy and business climate of the cheyenne area, to promote and encourage pride in the cheyenne area and its people, to preserve and enhance the culture, heritage and traditions of the cheyenne area and its people. This includes activities such as rodeos, night arena shows, parades, a free pancake breakfast, a carnival, midway entertainment and exhibit area.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 85% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 89% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and some filed totals do not add up.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 88
- Transparency & Controls: 71
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 67
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 87.6%; rating input score 88
- Program expense ratio: 89.8%; rating input score 90
- Fundraising efficiency: $69.42 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 96.9%; rating input score 97; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 13.1%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.01; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.1%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 16.1% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.4% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 87.6% of revenue deployed · 89.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $20.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $429K · 19 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $9.4M reported
- Consistency: 24 of 25 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 9 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 49/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.