Rocketown of Middle Tennessee

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621571573
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6158434001
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Youth Development – Religious Leadership
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,394,858
Expenses
$2,747,101
Assets
$10,636,611
Liabilities
$257,227

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • KENNETH ALONZO (EXECUTIVE DI): $191,924 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To create culturally relevant environments that foster vital relationships between disenfranchised adolescents and christian mentors in order to meet social, spiritual, and physical needs of the teens. Rocketown has visitors representing every social demographic of the greater nashville area and surroudning counties.

What it reported doing in 2024

Other program services: rocketown's mission is to offer hope to the next generation through christ's love. Rocketown offers job preparedness and life-skill development through afterschool programming with our partner, mcgavock high school. We also offer creative, social, and spiritual opportunities that attract kids, such as dance classes, summer camps, music lessons, art lessons, and bible studies. During the fiscal year ending in 2025, approximately 15,027 youth participated in this type of program.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 68.1%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $3.1 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -14.7%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.87; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.1% of revenue deployed · 68.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 18 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $192K · 19 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 42/100.