Next Step Recovery Ministries

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463512748
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Macon, GA, USA
Phone
4784427002
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Family Services

Reported finances

Revenue
$599,000
Expenses
$599,000
Assets
$937,000
Liabilities
$70,000

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Franklin Robinson (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Chris Carmichael (Director of Operations): $55,000 total reported compensation
  • Debbie Bartow (Executive Asst): $40,000 total reported compensation
  • Robert Foster (Instructor): $30,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Next Step is a 12 month residential program for men recovering from addiction and other life-crippling decisions. We provide mentorship counseling volunteerism and job opportunities.

What it reported doing in 2025

Weekly group community recovery and educational meetings serving 55-60 people each week from the community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 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: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.56; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.2%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 10.3% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $599K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $55K · 5 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 43 of 43 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.