Tennessee Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621448269
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Columbia, TN, USA
Phone
9313887872
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,028,748
Expenses
$381,109
Assets
$11,589,106
Liabilities
$28,730

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ERIC MAYBERRY (PRESIDENT)
  • JAMES HASKEW (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRYAN WRIGHT (TREASURER): $363,382 total reported compensation
  • ERIC MAYBERRY (PRESIDENT): $245,176 total reported compensation
  • DANIEL STRASSER (SECRETARY): $158,943 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Supports and promotes agricultural learning in the state including providing teaching materials, teacher training, farm tours, scholarships, funds for outdoor classrooms, and other related activities.

What it reported doing in 2024

Outdoor classroom grants:54 classroom grants in the amount of $15,400 were given to schools that have teachers and who attend state agriculture in the classroom workshops. These grants provide the students with many hands-on experiences that are related to match, science, literature, social studies, nutrition and agriculture. With all this tied together, the classroom grants reach many different curriculums and all grade levels within the school systemmemorial grants: eight scholarships were presented to deserving agriculture students who are a college sophomore, junior, or senior. The scholarships are presented at the Tennessee young farmers and ranchers summer conference each year.the foundation also sells cookbooks honoring regional recipes.

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 68% for direct work, and 32% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 57
  • Accountability: 23
  • Sustainability: 83
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.4%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 84%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 19th 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: 41.6%; rating input score 42; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 63%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 30.41; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 66.3%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.7% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.1% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 75.4% of revenue deployed · 84% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $320K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $363K · 13 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 14 filed related-organization links
  • 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: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 42/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 53/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.