Marin Trail Stewards

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
821392802
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Woodacre, CA, USA
Phone
4152597749
Rating
90
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$354,954
Expenses
$363,282
Assets
$113,223
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • STEPHEN MCDANIEL (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • VERNON HUFFFMAN (EXECUTIVE DI): $60,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To motivate and empower marin mountain bikers to act in their own self interest to get fair and reasonable access to our public trails and preserve the experience of trail riding.

What it reported doing in 2025

To motivate and empower marin mountain bikers to act in their own self interest to get fair and reasonable access to our public trails and preserve the experience of trail riding. Mts program service accomplishments construction of caballo rojo trail - ~1 mile of trail built at camp tamarancho in fairfax, ca - 10,000+ users annually - 2025 cost: 172,311 (thomas fill in) - publication https://www.singletracks.com/mtb-trails/marin-county-opens- new-650000-bike-only-flow-trail-after-10-year-wait/ marinduro mountain bike race - mountain bike race at camp tamarancho, fairfax, ca - ~450 participants, ~200 volunteers and spectators - cost: 36,622 - 2024 publication: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/race-report-marinduro- 2024.html solstice on solstice mountain bike race - mountain bike race at san domenico school, marin county - ~100 participants, ~75 volunteers and spectators - cost: 16,018 - publication: https://marintrailstewards.org/news/solstice-on-solstice- 2025

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: 98
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.9%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 96.6%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $263.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: -2.3%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.31; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16.5%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 40.9% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 23.3% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.9% of revenue deployed · 96.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $351K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.