K9 Hero Guardians

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
834379830
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Omer, MI, USA
Rating
58
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$76,088
Expenses
$75,654
Assets
$114,474

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jody Wilk (President)

People named in this filing

  • Jody Wilk (President)
  • Sharon Maher (Treasurer)
  • Douglas Stacer (Secretary)

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

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

Overview

Mission

To serve in assisting and locating additional funding to Michigan Law Enforcement agencies to supplement the training and equipment of their police service dogs purchase new police service dogs educate the public regarding police service dogs establish funding for the best possible care for retired police service dogs and to honor them when they pass away. In 2025 K9 Hero Guardians participated in 13 community and self-organized events. Three of these events included K9 demonstrations that allowed attendees to see the work that police K9s do. All 13 events provided opportunities to educate attendees on the purpose of police K9s and their importance for law enforcement agencies.

What it reported doing in 2025

The 2025 year provided three opportunities to show communities what police K9s do. The K9 demonstrations were at the Mid Michigan Pet Expo in Flint Frankenmuth Dog Bowl and the Novi Pet Expo. It is estimated that over 20,000 attendees at these events watched the demonstrations and learned more about the vital role police K9s play in law enforcement. Each of these demonstrations were led by a retired Detroit Police K9 handler of 30+ years. There were a total of 12 K9 teams from across Michigan that participated in the demonstrations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 25
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 26%; rating input score 26
  • Program expense ratio: 23.3%; rating input score 23

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.6%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.51; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -12.6% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 26% of revenue deployed · 23.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $18K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 26/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 23/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.