Trailnet Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 431509048
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- St Louis, MO, USA
- Phone
- 3144556329
- Rating
- 83
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Physical Fitness and Community Recreational Facilities
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,362,716
- Expenses
- $1,246,675
- Assets
- $1,443,354
- Liabilities
- $794,813
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- BRAD LUCAS (PRESIDENT)
- RYAN BROWN (VICE PRESIDENT)
- CINDY MENSE (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- CINDY MENSE (CEO): $127,236 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To lead in fostering healthy, active and vibrant communities where walking, bicycling, and the use of public transit are a way of life.
What it reported doing in 2025
Planning and healthy, active communitiestrailnet's planning team partners with communities to create plans for how their streets can be better and safer for walking, biking and public transportation. In 2025, trailnet's planning team partnered with communities in the city of st. Louis, st. Louis county, hillsboro, hayti heights, qulin, birch tree, and ironton. Within the city of st. Louis, trailnet partnered with schools through the safe routes to school program to create active transportation action plans. Trailnet also provided technical assistance for transportation planning and community engagement fr two city-led comprehensive neighborhood plans.the planning team also manages and coordinates access to a traffic calming lending library, which trailnet and community groups can use to host demonstrations to test out new street designs and get more meaningful community feedback. In 2025, the traffic calming lending library was used 8 times.in addition, the trailnet planning team continues to support implementation of the connecting st. Louis plan, which resulted in two new bicycle and pedestrian safety projects: tower grove connector and the tucker bike-walk-bus project.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and revenue has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 77
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 44
- Growth: 40
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 79%; rating input score 79
- Program expense ratio: 85.6%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: $12.4 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 8.5%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.16; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.2%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -2.7% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -2.7% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 79% of revenue deployed · 85.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.1M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $127K · 19 people listed
- Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 12 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 47/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 11/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 37/100.