Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
850464041
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2016
Location
Velarde, NM, USA
Phone
5058521351
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$183,189
Expenses
$193,535
Assets
$789,896
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Alec Kercso (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Matthew Martinez (Director): $2,781 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

MPPP promotes heritage stewardship and preservation of archaeological features and the environment and cultural landscape of the Mesa Prieta region of the northern Rio Grande Valley through documentation, education and outreach.

What it reported doing in 2025

Education - Serving teachers and students with a stem-based curriculum and educating the general public about petroglyphs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 82% 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

STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 92.2%; rating input score 92
  • Program expense ratio: 85.7%; rating input score 86
  • Fundraising efficiency: $32.2 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 66; 66th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -5.6%; rating input score 24; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.08; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.4%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.7% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 92.2% of revenue deployed · 85.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $166K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $3K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 24/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 34/100.