Nashville Parks Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
473639207
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6157045445
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Single Organization Support

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$595,781
Expenses
$304,599
Assets
$1,459,944
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LOUISE BRYAN (PRESIDENT & CEO(END 10/22/25))

Highest reported compensation

  • LOUISE BRYAN (PRESIDENT & CEO(END 10/22/25)): $50,000 total reported compensation
  • KRISTIN BRASSELL (SECRETARY/SP PROJECTS ASSISTANT): $11,375 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Nashville parks foundation enhances public parks and expands recreational opportunities while promoting sustainable growth of the park system.

What it reported doing in 2025

Nashville parks foundation enhances metro's 189 parks and expands recreational opportunities in the 27 community centers while promoting sustainable growth of the park system throughout davidson county.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 95% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 65% for direct work, and 35% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 79
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 45.6%; rating input score 46
  • Program expense ratio: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $52.9 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings

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: 99.3%; rating input score 99; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 48.9%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.79; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.1% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 45.6% of revenue deployed · 83.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 14 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $255K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $50K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 46/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.