Potomac Area Hostels

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
851246031
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Silver Spring, MD, USA
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$282,270
Expenses
$242,626
Assets
$2,103,548
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • John Russell (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Holly Harness (Treasurer): $20,675 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The organization's mission is to continue to foster cultural understanding and appreciation of nature through educational travel through workshops and programs. Plans to extend programs at our Richmond location to emphasize educational travel and cultural diversity with workshops, programs working with the local population and other organizations.

What it reported doing in 2024

PAH continued to host Scouting groups, school groups, cycling groups and other individuals and groups in order to help foster our mission. PAH's model includes opportunities for these groups and individuals to volunteer in this mission with the development and upkeep of the hostels and its programs and in the community in which they reside. The volunteers provided maintenance to buildings and surrounding ground through landscaping, painting, grading the driveway and replacing the kitchen floor at Cross Trails. The Richmond location entered a lease agreement with the City of Richmond, Virginia.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 60
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.9%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 81.3%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 14%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.67; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.5%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -18.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -11.6% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.4% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.9% of revenue deployed · 81.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $197K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $21K · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 30/100.