Knox Makers
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 453981182
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2025–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2016
- Location
- Knoxville, TN, USA
- Phone
- 8652601337
- Rating
- 67
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Adult, Continuing Education
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $324,161
- Expenses
- $114,942
- Assets
- $447,529
- Liabilities
- $2,891
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ISSAC MERKLE (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- ISSAC MERKLE (PRESIDENT)
- TRACY HOMER (SECRETARY)
- SUE JOSLIN (TREASUER)
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
Knox makers is a charitable and educational organization that provides affordable access to tools, machines, and workspace, and teaches the public how to safely and effectively use them, and enables them to learn new crafts and skills.
What it reported doing in 2025
Offered 195 classes in 2025 to members and the local community in electronics,3d printing, metal working, blacksmithing, machining, fiber, woodworking and other hobbies.
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
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. 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: 42
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 80
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 27.8%; rating input score 28
- Program expense ratio: 80%; rating input score 80
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 64.5%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.89; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: 27.7% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 46% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 27.8% of revenue deployed · 80% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $92K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- 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 28/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.