Footpath Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
475560117
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Parma, OH, USA
Phone
2162006572
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$526,227
Expenses
$445,421
Assets
$971,487
Liabilities
$11,395

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARY MACIAS (CEO)
  • KURT CAMDEN (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARY MACIAS (CEO): $60,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Connecting kids with nature to develop personal growth and improve access to the natural world.

What it reported doing in 2025

School based programs: footpath engages with local school urban districts where more than 50% of students receive free or reduced lunch. Footpath provides educational curriculum resources and enrichment for 5th and 6th grade students. The enrichment includes printed lessons, student workbooks, teacher guides, hands-on materials for the teacher and students to use in outdoor lessons. Additionally, 6th graders will go on a fall outdoor discovery day field trip with footpath and a camp experience, and 5th graders will go to a day of camp. For sleepover camp, footpath provides transportation and all necessary supplies including duffle bag, sleeping bag, toiletries etc.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 79% 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.
  • 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.1%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 73.3%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.54 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 22nd 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15.4%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.18; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 13.5%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 26.8% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.9% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 26.5% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.1% of revenue deployed · 73.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $327K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule G fundraiser detail did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.