Kentucky 4H Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237437297
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Lexington, KY, USA
Phone
8592577178
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development Programs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,606,279
Expenses
$6,809,975
Assets
$7,981,073
Liabilities
$50,000

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MELISSA MILLER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MELISSA MILLER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $111,167 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To actively assist, advance and support the state and county 4-h youth development programs. To encourage and support youth leadership development and education. To recognize, support and assist trained 4-h adult and teen volunteer leaders. To support and assist in securing funding for the four 4-h camping centers.

What it reported doing in 2025

Providing high quality educational instruction to Kentucky 4-hers by planning, promoting, implementing and evaluating 4-h programs in order to meet the interest and needs of the commonwealth of Kentucky.

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 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 91
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 88.7%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

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: 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: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -161.3%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.17; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.6%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 88.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $111K · 20 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $4.3M reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.