Chinook Horses

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
812295286
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022
Location
Billings, MT, USA
Phone
9179030873
Rating
55
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Counseling, Support Groups

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$243,182
Expenses
$231,268
Assets
$26,153
Liabilities
$2,239

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARTHA FULLER (Vice President)
  • MARGARITA SPARBOE (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • ABIGAIL HORNIK (Executive Dir.): $74,492 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We provide inclusive access for individuals and families to engage and learn outside traditional therapeutic and classroom environments, instill resiliency, and heal from trauma by practicing equine-facilitated activities and psychotherapy, regardless of their ability to pay.

What it reported doing in 2025

Despite a 28% decrease in medicaid, private insurance, and self-pay reimbursement, chinook horses continued to grow; expanding access, deepening impact, and showing up for those who need it most. Chinook horses end the year with providing 816 session hours, with a total of 91 participants, and 68% of our budget went directly to providing services. 74% of the participants we serve are categorized as low income, 25% of the participants we serve are native american, and 78% of the clients we serve are youth. Our partnerships strengthened our reach by providing services to the students of journey academy and participants from friends of eastern Montana, in partnership with the rocky mountain tribal leadership council. We also collaborated with the boys & girls club of yellowstone county, billings public schools, and the billings clinic. Every equine facilitated therapy session has a licensed mental health practitioner present. All facilitators are trained in eagala and/or natural lifemanship and/or transpersonal and body-oriented psychotherapy.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% 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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 38
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 50
  • Sustainability: 28
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 39.5%; rating input score 40
  • Program expense ratio: 41.5%; rating input score 42
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.45 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.9%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.11; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 32.2%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -21% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 22% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 17.1% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 39.5% of revenue deployed · 41.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 6 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $96K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $74K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 40/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 42/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.