Monongahela River Trails Conservancy Limited

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
550709470
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2012
Location
Morgantown, WV, USA
Phone
3046853524
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Parks and Playgrounds

Reported finances

Revenue
$561,471
Expenses
$557,823
Assets
$420,300
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Ella Belling (Executive Director)
  • David Harshbarger (President)
  • Edwin Parks (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ella Belling (Executive Director): $51,250 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 manage and maintain the Mon River and Deckers Creek Trails, a non-motorized use 48 mile trail network inspiring outdoor adventure, commuting, healthy lifestyles and fun for all ages.

What it reported doing in 2025

Maintain and repair the rail trails, including routine mowing, clearing and improving ditches, replacing culverts, removing downed trees, clearing debris and other routine maintenance tasks to keep the trails safe and enjoyable for public use.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 77% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 58% for direct work, and 42% for grants.

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: 93
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95%; rating input score 95
  • Program expense ratio: 95.6%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $49 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 0.6%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.75; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.2%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.2% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95% of revenue deployed · 95.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 10 filed program accomplishments · $533K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $51K · 9 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $159K reported
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.