East Tennessee Equality Council Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 272363373
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2019–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021, Form 990-N 2017
- Location
- Knoxville, TN, USA
- Phone
- 8659364038
- Rating
- 66
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Lesbian, Gay Rights
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $380,087
- Expenses
- $335,880
- Assets
- $36,455
- Liabilities
- $1,721
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- John Camp (President)
Highest reported compensation
- John Camp (President): $83,232 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 primary purpose of the corporation is to eliminate the prejudice and discrimination against, and to promote awareness and increase acceptance of Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, and Transgendered persons within the communities of East Tennessee through public educational, cultural, and informative discussions, forums, programs, and events.
What it reported doing in 2025
In 2025, Knox Pride made a significant impact on the Knoxville community through its resource center and outreach efforts. The Knox Pride Community Resource Center became one of the citys most vital support hubs, operating on a no-barrier model offering free groceries, hygiene products, and clothing with no paperwork or eligibility requirements. Executive Director John Camp reported that the pantry distributed over 172,000 pounds of food in 2025 alone, serving 200300 people a day as need continued to grow. Knox Pride also hosted its annual Pride Night at Zoo Knoxville in June, bringing together families and the broader East Tennessee community for a safe, celebratory event that served as the organizations largest fundraiser of the year. Throughout the year, Knox Pride continued to provide support groups, mental health care services, youth navigation, workforce development, housing, life skills classes, and community events, remaining a cornerstone of support for LGBTQ+ residents across the region.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 91% 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
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: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 0
- Sustainability: 35
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 88.4%; rating input score 88
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 11.6%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.11; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 24.8%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 24.9% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -20.7% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 88.4% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 0 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $336K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $83K · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2019 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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: 7 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.