Red River Merchants Association Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810822676
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2019
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
5122708001
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$463,636
Expenses
$365,914
Assets
$188,268
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Jon-Erik Garcia (President)
  • Angela Tharp (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Christopher Markley (Treasurer)
  • Jon-Erik Garcia (President)
  • Rebecca Trent (Board Member)

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

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

Overview

Mission

Attracting more customers to the red river cultural district, preserving the cultural heritage of the red river cultural district, and specifically its role as a hub for local music, Art, Food, and nightlife in the downtown Austin area.

What it reported doing in 2025

The organization successfully produced and expanded community music initiatives to preserve the local live music ecosystem and drive economic activity within the Red River Cultural District. Accomplishments for the year include: Annual Festivals: Produced Free Week and Hot Summer Nights 2025, funding live performances, event production, and regional marketing. This supported over 300 local musicians and contractors while driving significant foot traffic to local venues and small businesses. Cultural Preservation & Education: Launched Cultural Currents (a historical research and storytelling initiative, including a quarterly print zine) and District Dialogues (a community panel series addressing career sustainability for artists and industry professionals). Mid-Week Activation: Launched Why Not Wednesday, a multi-venue live music series driving mid-week revenue for local small businesses and providing paid gigs for local artists.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 61% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 88.7%; rating input score 89
  • 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: 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: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 21.1%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.51; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 18.5% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70% of revenue deployed · 88.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $325K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 16 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.