Franklin Fellows

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
923227020
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Franklin, TN, USA
Phone
6154298228
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development – Religious Leadership

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$184,179
Expenses
$180,472
Assets
$94,633
Liabilities
$31,925

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Chris Musgrove (Executive Director)
  • Rusty Faulks (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Chris Musgrove (Executive Director): $111,375 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 Franklin Fellows Program exists to help young professionals explore their vocational calling, grow holistically as leaders, and build meaningful careers that promote thriving and flourishing in their community.

What it reported doing in 2025

Through 9 months of work, study, community, and service, we develop participants personally, professionally, and spiritually while growing their imaginations for how God uses their everyday work to bring about goodness and blessing to the city.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98%; rating input score 98
  • 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: Limited
  • 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: 2%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.52; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 61.7%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17.5% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 52.3% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 41.9% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $180K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $111K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 17 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 41/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.