Trail Blazers Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
273734229
IRS 990 coverage
2018–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Portland, OR, USA
Phone
5032349291
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Foundations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$857,580
Expenses
$820,043
Assets
$845,818
Liabilities
$615,739

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ANNIE KLUG (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

People named in this filing

  • DIANA CUTAIA (BOARD CHAIR)
  • CHABRE VICKERS (VICE CHAIR)
  • ALLIE FOOTE (TREASURER)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The trail blazers foundation is dedicated to positively impacting the lives of individuals from communities that have been historically underserved or marginalized with a focus on where youth live, learn, and play.

What it reported doing in 2024

The trail blazers foundation's take it to the court for education program provides grants to schools across Oregon and southwest Washington in support of their academic, art, athletic, or community programs. During the year ended june 30, 2025, the trail blazers granted $102,600 to 13 schools.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 65% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.4%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 95.6%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 90.4%; rating input score 90; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 66.7%; rating input score 67; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: 4.4%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.03; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.73; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.2% per year; rating input score 0; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.4% of revenue deployed · 95.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 12 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $784K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 14 of 15 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2018 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 19 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 19 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 48/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.