Kay E McFarland Charitable Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
816309397
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Topeka, KS, USA
Phone
7852730688
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Reported finances

Revenue
$814,063
Expenses
$706,634
Assets
$4,380,651
Liabilities
$7,138

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

Leadership & pay

1 person listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Elaine L Schwartz (Sole Trustee): $50,400 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 Trust was created to develop, build, maintain, operate, and enhance through the years a Japanese Garden at the Topeka Zoological Park for the enjoyment of the community and state, hoping it will become one of the top ten in the nation. The Trustor was involved in the planning of the Garden in the year prior to her death and funded the Trust to be spent on her Garden and keeping her story, in her own words "alive", in her garden for the public to know who built and maintained it.

What it reported doing in 2025

Kay McFarland Japanese Garden - Grants provided support for the Kay McFarland Japanese Garden at the Topeka Zoological Park for maintenance and improvements to the Garden and debt service on Municipal Bonds issued to build the Garden. Grant funds were used to partially pay for garden wall refurbishment, principal and interest payments on Municipal Bonds issued by the Zoo to build the garden, general maintenance, and Zoo Scholarships.Program expenses include costs to provide artwork for the garden, refinish wood benches, work on the Turtle Gate, and funding of Event Center activities, conducted by the Zoo, and related advertising.Finally, graphic design, communications, and web service expenses were incurred to promote the Trustor's life story in her Garden, and others, through the Lasting Legacy Online website and kiosk located in the Event Center Gallery. All of which result in promoting the Topeka Zoological Park.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 98% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 71% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 12
  • Sustainability: 68
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 97.5%; rating input score 98
  • 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Limited
    • Other executive compensation review process: Limited
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.2%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.2; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.1%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -40.8% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -9.5% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 97.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 1 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $689K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $50K · 1 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 20 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.