Potomac Appalachian Trail Club

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
530187508
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Vienna, VA, USA
Phone
7032420315
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,605,087
Expenses
$1,342,352
Assets
$12,900,263
Liabilities
$586,789

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jim Fetig (President)
  • Lee Congdon (Vice President-Operations)
  • Jayne Mayne (Vice President-Volunteerism)

Highest reported compensation

  • Evan Hoffman (Staff Director): $107,546 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (the Club), through volunteer efforts, education and advocacy, acquires, maintains and protects the trail and lands of the Appalachian Trail and other trails and related facilities in the Mid-Atlantic region for the enjoyment of present and future hikers.

What it reported doing in 2025

Outreach: PATC participates in various events and programs geared toward reaching and educating both members and the general public about the mission of the club, as well as to advocate for the care and appreciation of the AT and other hiking trails. This includes attendance at various public fairs and festivals and the organization of group hikes. PATC also employs six seasonal individuals, known as Ridgerunners, who work on sections of the AT between spring and fall to educate and support hikers. We also maintain a volunteer group of trail advocates, known as the Trail Patrol, who do similar work as the Ridgerunners year round.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 66% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 71%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 70.4%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.97 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 8; 8th 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.4%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.61; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.05; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.9% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 71% of revenue deployed · 70.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 24 board members independent · 7 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments · $946K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $108K · 25 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 8/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.