Iron Spike Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471944511
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Washington, MO, USA
Phone
6366673380
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Museum, Museum Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$733,387
Expenses
$208,381
Assets
$1,045,294
Liabilities
$313,648

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

People named in this filing

  • DAVID BEVFODEN (Director)
  • WILLIAM STRAATMANN (Director)
  • DOUGLAS ECKELKAMP (Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Primary exempt purpose - to educate and promote knowledge and enjoyment of model railroading for all ages; to establish and operate a railroad museum to build, display and operate interactive scaled railroad layouts to depict different timelines in the growth of railroads in our nation; to display railroad memorabilia, artifacts and photos; and to invite the public, scouts, schools, community organizations and other model railroading enthusiasts to visit, tour, observe and participate in the corporation's operations.

What it reported doing in 2025

Education and promotion of knowledge and enjoyment of model railroading for all ages.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 94% 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 program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 49
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 58
  • Sustainability: 81
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 28.9%; rating input score 29
  • Program expense ratio: 98.7%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 90%; rating input score 90; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Fail
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 71.6%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.02; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 61.5% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 21.1% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.5% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 28.9% of revenue deployed · 98.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 10 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $206K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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: Mission deployment rate scored 29/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.