Montgomery County Fair Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
742077055
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Conroe, TX, USA
Phone
9367603631
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Fairs

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,636,230
Expenses
$3,599,407
Assets
$5,800,449
Liabilities
$324,960

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Michael Walding (President)
  • Cody Bartlett (Immediate Past President)
  • Matthew Dodd (Vice President)
  • Bobby Finley (Vice President)
  • Tammy Gracey (Vice President)
  • Glen Koy Jr (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Brian Hayes (Executive Director to 7/24): $80,963 total reported compensation
  • Tobin D Redwine (Executive Director form 12/24): $10,733 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide scholarships, prizes, and awards to county youth for their achievements in agricultural and home economics contests. Adult residents of Montgomery County are limited to prizes and awards in separate programs for homemaking, fine arts, and horticulture.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Scholarship Program began in 1993 when the Scholarship Trail Ride Committee was established. The funds raised support scholarships for graduating seniors. The proceeds from the Scholarship Trail Ride, the Scholarship Chili Cook-off, and 5% of the Junior Livestock and Junior Non-Livestock Auctions of the Fair are contributed to the scholarship fund. Since the program began, over $2.7 million in college scholarships have been awarded. In 2024-2025, the MCFA committed $154,203 in scholarships to graduating seniors in Montgomery County. College-bound graduates received 63 academic scholarships from a combination of the Fair Queen Contest, Colt Show Hi-Point Program, Replacement Heifer Program, and Calf Scramble Program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 79% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 96
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.6%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 83.3%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.61; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.5%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 28.8% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.6% of revenue deployed · 83.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 30 of 30 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $81K · 33 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 7/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 38/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.