Miracle of Innocence

Legal name: Miracle of Innocence Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
822295351
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Official website data refreshed
Jul 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2018
Location
Overland Park, KS, US
Phone
913.717.5080
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Legal Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$451,905
Expenses
$424,000
Assets
$442,379
Liabilities
$1,545

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Mark Zimmerman (Executive Director)
  • Darryl Burton (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mark Zimmerman (Executive Director): $75,600 total reported compensation
  • Darryl Burton (President): $45,000 total reported compensation
  • Lamonte McIntyre (Board Member): $30,000 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 educate the public and raise awareness about wrongful conviction, systemic racism, and disparities in the criminal justice system, while supporting exonerees in rebuilding their lives.

What it reported doing in 2025

Exoneree Comprehensive Care - Provided 98 exonerees with financial support and professional counseling for exonerated individuals to assist with essential purchases of clothing cell phones household items and transportation. This program is led by exonerated individuals who provide mentoring and counseling to current and formerly incarcerated individuals who were wrongfully convicted. Provided over 5000 hours of Exoneree community building and 10 participants at the 1st Exoneree retreat.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 86% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.3%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 76.8%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 26; 26th 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: 6.2%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.04; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 35.5%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 4 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 72.3% of revenue deployed · 76.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $326K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $76K · 19 people listed
  • Consistency: 43 of 43 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 26/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.