Deerfoot Lodge
Legal name: Christian Camps Inc Dba Deerfoot Lodge & Subsidiary
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 146017995
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Speculator, NY, USA
- Phone
- 8554472267
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $4,028,073
- Expenses
- $3,834,960
- Assets
- $21,537,384
- Liabilities
- $42,366
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Highest reported compensation
- Rev Ronald Mackey (Executive Dir.): $149,875 total reported compensation
- Craig Boronow (Summer Camp Dir.): $149,099 total reported compensation
- Nicholas Dotti (Summer Camp Dir.): $124,668 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Since 1930, Deerfoot Lodge has been building godly men in a Christ-centered community through wilderness camping—serving as a catalyst for the personal, spiritual, relational, and missional growth of boys and men. Deerfoot’s historic interest in world missions grows naturally out of its mission to build godly men. Many Deerfoot alumni who have gone into missionary service report that their Deerfoot experience was formative to their calling and preparation for missionary service. Missionary work is promoted and an offering is taken to support missions during each session at camp. In an effort to promote world missions before Deerfooters, we have established a list of ‘endorsed’ DL missionaries made up of alumni or ministries that have close ties to Deerfoot. DL endorsement means that we highlight the work of these missionaries as a global extension of Deerfoot’s mission. While...
What it reported doing in 2024
Christian Camps, Inc. d/b/a Deerfoot Lodge is a ministry seeking to build campers and summer staff into Godly men in a Christ-centered community through wilderness camping at sites in Speculator, NY and Glenville, NC. The organization also engages with alumni in continuing to build godly men outside of summer camp.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 62% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 62
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 79.1%; rating input score 79
- Program expense ratio: 79.3%; rating input score 79
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.64 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
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: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: 4.8%; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.62; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
- Where the money goes: 79.1% of revenue deployed · 79.3% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $150K · 15 people listed
- Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 50/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.