Foothills Forum
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 521071448
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-N 2014
- Location
- Washington, VA, USA
- Phone
- 7036153720
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Media, Communications Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $384,247
- Expenses
- $314,880
- Assets
- $469,161
- Liabilities
- $1,984
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
17 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Emily A Oaks (Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Emily A Oaks (Executive Director): $67,500 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Foothills Forum is a community-supported nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the residents of Rappahannock County, Virginia, through the creation and dissemination of deeply researched, well-sourced independent local journalism. Since 2014, Foothills Forum has earned -- through the production of its original, authoritative reporting and its distribution through the respected, century-old weekly broadsheet Rappahannock News and through virtual and social media platforms -- substantial backing throughout its rural county in the Virginia Piedmont.
What it reported doing in 2025
1. Journalism - Foothills Forum journalists produced a record number of outstanding deep-dive stories during 2025. Some of the top stories for Foothills Forum during 2025 emphasized issues of importance to the residents of Rappahannock County including the county budget and options being considered for a new county courthouse. In addition, stories addressed the continued expansion of data centers in neighboring counties, and the impact of federal budget cuts on the county. In the Virginia Press Association annual competition, Foothills Forum journalists won 30 awards, and together with our partners at the Rappahannock News, won a combined 46 awards, including the Grand Sweepstakes award as the top news organization of its size in Virginia for the fifth consecutive year. Over half of these awards were first place and many were in "open" competition, meaning they were from all news organizations including the Washington Post and Virginia's other major news outlets.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 69
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 55
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 68.2%; rating input score 68
- Program expense ratio: 81.1%; rating input score 81
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.51 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
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: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- 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: 18.1%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.49; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 21.4%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 22.8% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 19.2% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 21.6% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 68.2% of revenue deployed · 81.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $255K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $68K · 17 people listed
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 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.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 41/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 17/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.