Montana Innocence Project

What it reported doing in 2025

Legal: o Reviewed 111 applications and advanced 32 cases into active investigation, with 6 cases in active litigation.o Strengthened investigations through expert collaboration, including nationally recognized medical experts.o Expanded impact by taking on your first unjust incarceration case, broadening pathways to relief beyond traditional innocence claims.o Conducted a comprehensive case inventory review to focus resources on cases with the greatest potential for impact.o Built a referral network and supported medical parole efforts, ensuring more peopleespecially medically vulnerable individualshave pathways to release.o Prioritized equity, with roughly half of active cases involving Indigenous clients, many of whom were young at conviction or impacted by addiction.Social Services: o Provided individualized, trauma-informed support to clients both inside correctional facilities and in the community.o Assisted with general and medical parole planning, improving readiness and chances for release.o Built direct relationships with correctional facilities, enabling regular in-person support from a formerly incarcerated advocate.o Connected freed clients with national exoneree-led organizations for ongoing support, training, and community.o Launched foundational work for inside-out organizing, centering the voices of incarcerated individuals in policy and reform.o Developed individualized healing opportunities (e.g., retreats, community-based support) to support restoration beyond release.o Mentored social work students, helping build the next generation of reentry advocates.Advocacy: o Championed efforts to restore compensation for exonerees, bringing statewide attention to gaps in restitution.o Supported passage of key policies, including: - Creation of an Office of Reentry Services - A work time credit program to reduce supervision through employmento Opposed harmful policies, including efforts to expand execution methods, reinforcing commitment to ending the death penalty.o Elevated critical issues such as prison expansion, reentry barriers, and prison conditions, positioning MTIP as a trusted statewide voice.o Advanced lived-experience-informed advocacy, ensuring directly impacted individuals help shape policy solutions.Public Education: o Strengthened public understanding of wrongful conviction and justice issues through community engagement and storytelling.o Participated in the Innocence Network Conference, amplifying exoneree voices and building national partnerships.o Hosted a community event with exoneree and author Calvin Duncan, fostering dialogue around resilience and second chances.o Organized a holiday card campaign, sending 50+ messages of support to incarcerated individuals.o Expanded reach through your podcast Unpacking Injustice, which is now accessible in correctional facilities and driving awareness nationwide.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 71.7%; rating input score 72
• Program expense ratio: 82.9%; rating input score 83
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 13.6%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 18.4%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings