Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810517908
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Great Falls, MT, USA
Phone
4067612750
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$342,476
Expenses
$318,670
Assets
$195,575
Liabilities
$85,000

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Russ Ehnes (President)
  • Ken Michael (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Nathan Church (Secretary / Treasurer): $49,586 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 support and protect the future of Montana off-highway vehicle recreation through education, advocacy, trail maintenance, etc.

What it reported doing in 2025

MTVRA partnered with multiple USFS Ranger Districts throughout 3 National Forests and 2 BLM offices covering multiple riding areas. Mechanized trail maintenance was completed from April - October throughout Montana public OHV trails. USFS / BLM provided the planning, engineering, environmental studies, and extra personnel to make the projects a possibility. MTVRA applied for the grants to help fund the mechanized portion of the projects along with any supply / material needed. These grants allowed MTVRA to fund the contractors with the equipment skills to get the most amount of work accomplished in the limited amount of time available. Areas covered during 2025 include BLM Pipestone, USFS Pipestone, BLM Clancy, Helena RD, Dillon RD, Belt Creek WSS RD, J-M RD, Helena - Jerusha Gulch, Madison RD, BLM - Pryor Mtns, Bozeman RD, Hebgen Lake RD, Yellowstone RD.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 95% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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 - 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: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.1%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 83.6%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: 7%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.61; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.43; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.6%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 32.4% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.1% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.1% of revenue deployed · 83.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 1 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $267K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $50K · 6 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $182K reported
  • Consistency: 13 of 13 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 1 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 7 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 51/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 29/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.