Trailhead International Builders Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
474187800
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2015
Location
Waukee, IA, USA
Phone
5158221656
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Relief
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,124,630
Expenses
$2,771,566
Assets
$1,425,416
Liabilities
$17,919

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BRIAN WEED (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARK CARTER (Executive Dir.): $157,060 total reported compensation
  • BRIAN WEED (President): $78,718 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Trailhead international builders. Inc. Is a christian-based, non-profit organization with a passion for raising funds to build churches and community centers in developing nations and with a passion for sharing the message and love of jesus christ!

What it reported doing in 2025

Help provide a church home to every family of believers who can't afford their own.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 99% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 90
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.4%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 96.8%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $130.21 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • 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: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 11.3%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.51; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.5%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.5% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 22.1% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 21.9% per year; rating input score 100; 86th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.4% of revenue deployed · 96.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $157K · 15 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2017 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.