Heart of Horse Sense

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
464984188
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Marshall, NC, USA
Phone
8286497064
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Reported finances

Revenue
$498,075
Expenses
$540,780
Assets
$86,637
Liabilities
$36,569

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Shannon Knapp (Executive Director)
  • William Kelley (President)
  • Alida Woods (Vice-President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Shannon Knapp (Executive Director): $61,754 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Heart of Horse Sense provides trauma informed mental health and wellness services through the healing connection between horses and humans.

What it reported doing in 2024

Overall Accomplishments: - Funded 3 different equine therapy and learning programs for veterans throughout Western North Carolina - Continued to serve survivors of crime, including intimate partner violence/domestic violence, trafficking survivors and sexual and other assault survivors - Continued to fund individual therapy services for survivors of trauma, including at- risk youth and those affected by child abuse and neglect as well as adults diagnosed with PTSD

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 97% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.1%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 69.7%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 71.3%; rating input score 71; 46th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -8.6%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.16; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.42; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.4%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 29.4% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 25.5% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.3% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.1% of revenue deployed · 69.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $377K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $62K · 7 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $113K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 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 31/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 9/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.