Lafayette Trail

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
834635621
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Bethesda, MD, USA
Phone
6038456929
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Reported finances

Revenue
$250,692
Expenses
$202,480
Assets
$99,949
Liabilities
$2,689

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Julien Icher (President)
  • Charlotte White (Second Vice President)
  • Leslie Miller (First Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Julien Icher (President): $70,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Document map and mark General Lafayettes 1824-1825 farewell tour of the United States and his travels during the Revolutionary War. Educate about Lafayettes legacy. Promote US-French relations.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 54
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.8%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • 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: 75%; rating input score 75; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: 19.2%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.49; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 34.6%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.8% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $202K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $70K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 40 of 40 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 24/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 32/100.