Knox Area Rescue Ministries

Legal name: Knox Area Rescue Ministries Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
620670972
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Official website data refreshed
Aug 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Knoxville, TN, US
Phone
(865) 673-6540
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Homeless Shelters
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$49,999,440
Expenses
$49,229,673
Assets
$55,690,195
Liabilities
$22,141,453

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DANITA MCCARTNEY (PRESIDENT & CEO)
  • BURT ROSEN (FORMER CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • DANITA MCCARTNEY (PRESIDENT & CEO): $176,670 total reported compensation
  • BURT ROSEN (FORMER CEO): $122,258 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Knox Area Rescue Ministries exists to rescue and restore the poor and needy of the Knoxville area by providing recovery services in Jesus’ name.

What it reported doing in 2024

Our healthcare services offer minor acute care for individuals discharges from the hospital who have no place to recover. We also provide basic healthcare services aimed at preventing unnecessary 911 calls. Additionally, we host specific healthcare events such as vaccination clinics, optometry, pulmonology, mammography, dental hygiene, skin cancer screenings, and smoking cessation programs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.9%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: $20.28 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: 1.5%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.13; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.6%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.3% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.9% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 10 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 90.9% of revenue deployed · 91.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $45.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $177K · 15 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $4.1M reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.