Tennessee Electric Cooperative Assoc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
620461397
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Phone
6153679284
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$10,557,590
Expenses
$10,309,571
Assets
$4,726,748
Liabilities
$2,078,919

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MIKE KNOTTS (CEO)
  • TRENT SCOTT (VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNICATIONS)

Highest reported compensation

  • MIKE KNOTTS (CEO): $352,889 total reported compensation
  • RYAN KING (VP OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS): $212,887 total reported compensation
  • TRENT SCOTT (VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNICATIONS): $180,987 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 provide information, services, and support to the interests of rural electric cooperatives in Tennessee.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Tennessee magazine is the official publication of Tennessee electric cooperative association and its member electric cooperatives. It is published and distributed monhtly to communicate community interests of more than 1 million Tennessee families and business-managed, locally owned electric distribution and service systems of the Tennessee electric cooperative assocation. Approximate circulation: 755,000.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 69% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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 available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 31
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.7%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 80.5%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 2.3%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.46; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.44; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9.8%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.4% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.2% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.7% of revenue deployed · 80.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $8.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $353K · 16 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $964K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 14/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.