One Tail at a Time West Texas

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
874385572
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2023
Location
Marfa, TX, USA
Phone
5043016956
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$811,635
Expenses
$686,710
Assets
$137,898
Liabilities
$1,535

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HEATHER H HALL (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • HEATHER H HALL (PRESIDENT): $77,628 total reported compensation
  • LORI BENAVIDEZ (SECRETARY): $4,840 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

One tail at a time west Texas otat wtx serves the rural communities of west Texas by supporting animal shelter operations rescuing and sheltering homeless unwanted companion animals dogs and cats primarily arranging their veterinary care and placing them for transport adoption.

What it reported doing in 2025

One tail at a time west Texas otat wtx is an animal welfare organization dedicated to supporting local shelters and homeless pets across a vast remote landscape over 30,000 square miles. In 2025 the organization increased its life-saving impact by 37% serving 1,052 animals 773 dogs 278 cats 1 rabbit compared to 766 in 2024. This growth was driven by a unified mission to transition regional shelters toward no-kill status through an integrated program of care. Otat wtx managed 456 pets in foster care transported animals to 13 direct receiving partners to alleviate overcrowding and facilitated 188 community sterilizations. This integrated strategy directly supports seven regional shelters successfully transitioning them toward sustainable no-kill status. In 2025 these partnerships achieved exceptional live outcome rates across the region 94% in alpine 98% in marfa 97% in mccamey 93% in pecos 99% in presidio 90% in terrell county and 92% in van horn ensuring that the most vulnerable animals in west Texas have a path to a safe and healthy future.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 82% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 47
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 85%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $15.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 48; 48th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 33.3%; rating input score 33; 13th 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: 15.4%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.2; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 88.6% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 83.1% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 106.4% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73% of revenue deployed · 85% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 1 of 3 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $584K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $78K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 33/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 48/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 10/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 59/100.