Hope in the Hills Incorporated Healing Appalachia

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
823221120
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2021
Location
Huntington, WV, USA
Phone
3049322635
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Nonmonetary Support N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,173,395
Expenses
$3,328,356
Assets
$2,473,266
Liabilities
$13,575

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Dave Lavender (President)
  • Ian Thornton (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Donald L Terry (Executive Dir.): $23,962 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to end addiction in Appalachia through events that support substance abuse prevention and recovery programs.

What it reported doing in 2025

Healing Appalachia is a flagship initiative of Hope in the Hills and one of the nations largest recovery-focused music festivals, bringing together tens of thousands of people each year to celebrate recovery, reduce stigma, and support real solutions to the addiction and mental health crisis. Set in the heart of Appalachia, the festival harnesses the power of music to create connection, inspire hope, and elevate the voices of those impacted by substance use disorder. More than a music event, Healing Appalachia is a platform for impact. Through its on-site Resource Village, national partnerships, and initiatives like large-scale naloxone distribution, the festival connects individuals and families to life-saving resources and recovery support services. Proceeds from the festival are reinvested by Hope in the Hills into long-term recovery programs, workforce development, music therapy, and recovery housing scholarships across the region. Healing Appalachia is where music meets missiontransforming awareness into action and building a stronger, more connected recovery community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 97% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 76% for direct work, and 24% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 66
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 61.5%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 97.3%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 84.6%; rating input score 85; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97.8%; rating input score 98; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 19th 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: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 35.7%; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.74; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.7%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 33.5% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 43.9% per year; rating input score 100; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 39.4% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 61.5% of revenue deployed · 97.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $24K · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 29 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 33 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 31 filed related-organization links
  • 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: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.