Tarpan Horse Conservation Program

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
844143235
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2021
Location
Staunton, VA, USA
Phone
7032318491
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Other Services - Specialty Animals

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$77,850
Expenses
$38,756
Assets
$43,616

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

Leadership & pay

2 people listed

People named in this filing

  • Melinda Smale (Principal Officer)
  • Emily Ferguson (Second Principal Officer)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We nurture a relationship with Tarpan horses, educating the public about their legacy and fostering the development of life skills. We seek to protect the genetic integrity of this rare breed.

What it reported doing in 2025

Horse-Human Connections for Personal Development: We engaged 4 Tarpan horses continuously in experiential groundwork with small groups of children and adults, once or twice a week for 9-10 months of the year. Through our partnership with the Arc of Augusta, we emphasize personal development and learning in a semi-structured format and outdoors farm environment. Our participants are people who have been diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We have joined the 2026 Horses for Mental Health Campaign. At Bearfoot Ranch, Tarpan horses work with special needs children on a daily basis. Other members of our network also host special needs people.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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 - A large share of total spending goes to programs and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 49.8%; rating input score 50
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 50.2%; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.13; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -20.6% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -14.8% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 28.6% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 49.8% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $39K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 2 people listed
  • Consistency: 6 of 6 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 1 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 50/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 51/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.