Secretariat Center Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 453536475
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Lexington, KY, USA
- Phone
- 8592463080
- Rating
- 85
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Equestrian
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $397,503
- Expenses
- $585,610
- Assets
- $350,623
- Liabilities
- $5,464
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- HOLLY SCHMITT (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
- WHITNEY ALLEN (PRESIDENT)
- MATT LYONS (VICE-PRESIDENT)
- BILL NELSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
Highest reported compensation
- BILL NELSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $85,000 total reported compensation
- ANNA LOWELL (EQUINE PROGRAM DIRECTOR): $47,514 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
See schedule o
What it reported doing in 2025
Reschooling and matching former racehorses to new homes in suitable second careers.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 79% 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
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 94
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 72
- Sustainability: 14
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 94%; rating input score 94
- Fundraising efficiency: $26.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
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: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -47.3%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.6; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: Limited
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.9% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 94% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $550K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $85K · 18 people listed
- Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- 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.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 28/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.