Smoky Mountains Hiking Club Incorporated

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
626041526
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2018
Location
Knoxville, TN, USA
Phone
8653652910
Rating
69
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Natural Resources Conservation and Protection

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$72,044
Expenses
$52,271
Assets
$656,318
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LARRY JOHNSON (PRESIDENT)
  • LYNN KSZOS (VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • LARRY JOHNSON (PRESIDENT)
  • LYNN KSZOS (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • TIM BIGELOW (RECORDING SECRETARY)

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

Organizes hikes in east Tennessee region performs trail maintenance on the appalachian trail in the great smoky mountains national park and nantahala nf. Promotes conservation and wilderness preservation of east Tennessee region.

What it reported doing in 2025

Operation of several committees. A social committee organizes an annual election picnic and installation banquet; a conservation committee which attends meetings related to preservation and wilderness designation for nearby wilderness areas; an awards committee

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 53% for direct work, and 47% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 64
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.1%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 65.7%; rating input score 66
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 40.4%; rating input score 40; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • 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: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 27.4%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.56; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.1% of revenue deployed · 65.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $34K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 18 of 19 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 40/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.