Reach for the Stars Hot Air Balloon Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
912064544
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2024
Location
Winchester, CA, USA
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$129,815
Expenses
$97,372
Assets
$48,619
Liabilities
$6,005

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Brian Campbell Lynch (Chief Executive Officer and Director)

People named in this filing

  • Brian Campbell Lynch (Chief Executive Officer and Director)
  • Kimberly Zandstra Lynch (Chief Financial Officer and Director)
  • David B Lynch (Secretary and Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

To provide the experience of hot air balloon flight to people with disabilities serious illness and limited mobility and to their families and caregivers at little or no cost to them: the organization provides free tethered rides at community events and at camps serving children with disabilities and offers accessible flights in its local area at rates below the market price of comparable rides with the proceeds helping to sponsor its free events; and to advance public understanding of accessible aviation through community events and educational demonstrations.

What it reported doing in 2024

The organizations accessible-ride program operated aboard its new aircraft in its first full season: the Pala Spirit N703PC was operated on 48 flights totaling 75.1 hours all flown by the chief pilot together with tethered ride operations at community events that are not individually logged; the chief pilot flew the RJ 105 on 2 flights 1.6 hours. Passengers were the organizations own including people with disabilities serious illness and limited mobility and their families and caregivers carried at rates below the market price of comparable rides. The Pala Spirit carries the mark of Pala Casino Spa Resort which pays for services under a written marketing services agreement. It also carried parachutists aloft in its own balloon in March attended the June unveiling of the Alpha 5 world-record balloon at the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio and received a 10,000 memorial gift. Not fewer than 100 passengers were flown see Sch. O.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 90% 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

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 53
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.6%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 94.1%; rating input score 94

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 25%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.5; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.12; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 22.6%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.6% of revenue deployed · 94.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $92K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 38/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.