Mountain Projects Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
560849092
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Waynesville, NC, USA
Phone
8284521447
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$23,698,985
Expenses
$20,696,915
Assets
$15,546,184
Liabilities
$3,390,739

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • PATSY DAVIS (PAST EXECUTI): $263,445 total reported compensation
  • ROBERT SI SIMMONS (EXECUTIVE DI): $126,644 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Mountain projects community action agency changes people's lives, embodies the spirit of hope, improves communities, and makes haywood and jackson counties a better place to live.

What it reported doing in 2024

Housing - perform major renovation work on homes of lower income persons to improve housing quality. No fee is charged. 15 homes served this year. Affordable housing rental - provide affordable housing units. Expenses total 74,382. Weatherization - provide assistance in self-help housing. Served 165 units during the year. Expenses total 911,607. Senior services - assists elderly with physical and nutritional needs. Served 5,981 persons during year. Expenses 456,817. Corporation for national service - promotes people becoming involved as volunteers while assisting in needed areas such as daycares. 67 volunteers served during the year. Expenses 414,616. Community services block program - program funds central intake operations and case workers. Served over 908 persons during the year. Expenses 217,350. Public transportation program - provides public transportation for haywood cty citizens. Served 42,000 passengers for the year. Expenses 1,183,312. Navigator program - provides assistance to low income individuals in obtaining affordable health insurance coverage. Served 3,794 persons during the year. Expenses 338,153. Prevention services - this program provides adult and youth counseling focused on the prevention of substance abuse. Served 162,890 people. Expenses 303,760. Workforce opportunity act - served 11 people. Provides access to employement, education, training, and support services to job seekers. Expenses 83,659. Smokey mountain housing - develop lots and construct homes to be sold to eligible low income households. 3 homes/lots sold and 4 homes in development. Expenses 570,276. Healthy opportunities pilot - comprehensive program to evaluate non medical interventions related to housing, food and transportation for medicaid enrollees. Served 305 individuals. Expenses 1,426,136.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 65% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 51% for direct work, and 49% for grants.
  • 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. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.4%; rating input score 81
  • Program expense ratio: 93.2%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: $258.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.7%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.75; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.22; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.9%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.4% of revenue deployed · 93.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $19.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $263K · 17 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $822K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 56/100.