Mark Making
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 262959326
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2013–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2008
- Location
- Chattanooga, TN, US
- Phone
- (423) 605-5257
- Rating
- 84
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Visual Arts Organizations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $164,434
- Expenses
- $272,593
- Assets
- $391,398
- Liabilities
- $2,260
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Frances McDonald (Executive Director)
People named in this filing
- Erskine Oglesby (Board Chair)
- Phyllis Mescon (Board Secretary & Treasurer)
- Frances McDonald (Executive Director)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Mark Making empowers individuals and transforms communities.
What it reported doing in 2025
SCENIC CITY ANGELS: We have football and cheerleader teams for youth aged 7-15. Our football coach manages a lawn care business employing 10 young people paid biweekly. We are providing assistance for basic needs for rent, food, and utilities. We are focusing on one time needs to help in an emergency. Lately, we gave money to a senior citizen to help her relocate after losing everything in a fire. We donated to the Chattanooga Food Bank to assist with growing food insecurity in our community. We just paid an electric bill for a senior about to lose her home. We helped Northside Neighborhood House purchase caps and gowns for 3 Hamilton county high schools for seniors who couldn't afford them, and couldn't graduate without them. We supply ongoing support to the Chattanooga Public Library for "CharlieCart", their program to feed children after school and to have cooking lessons for them. We support the Seed Theater monthly with funding for their hygiene closet for elderly Patten Towers residents. We also have ongoing support for two caregiver/cleaners for a disabled artist so he can live independently as long as possible. SCA tries to respond quickly as needs arise, when someone needs help. Referrals come from agencies and social workers vetting the needs for us.
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. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Sustainability: 33
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 97.2%; rating input score 97
- Program expense ratio: 58.1%; rating input score 58
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -65.8%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.44; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 7 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 97.2% of revenue deployed · 58.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $158K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2013 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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: Program expense ratio scored 58/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.