Trails of Mississippi Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
920520508
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Madison, MS, USA
Phone
6016131812
Rating
58
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution

Reported finances

Revenue
$243,608
Expenses
$259,691
Assets
$613,133
Liabilities
$592,378

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DENNIS BISNETTE (PRESIDENT)
  • MATT CLEM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MATT CLEM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $85,500 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Trails of Mississippi, inc. (toms) was organized as a nonprofit corporation with a mission to advocate the development of diverse, high-quality parks, trails, water ways and greenways for the benefit of peoples and their communities. Through collaboration, education, and communication, toms offers grants to non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations located in Mississippi that provide and promote activities and services on parks, trails, waterways and greenways. Toms receives a significant amount of fundraising revenue from bingo activities operated under the state of Mississippi charitable bingo laws as regulated by the Mississippi gaming commission.

What it reported doing in 2024

Trails of Mississippi (toms) advocated for the development of diverse, high quality parks, trails, water ways, and greenways for the benefit of people and their communities. Through collaboration, education, and communication, toms grants non-profit 501(c)3 organizations located in Mississippi that provide and promote activities and services on parks, trails, water ways, and greenways. Toms raised funds through charitable gaming. The organization was able to grant $33,000 in 2024, the second year of operations. The future is hopeful for more grants to be awarded.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 100% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 100% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 12
  • Transparency & Controls: 93
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 13.6%; rating input score 14
  • Program expense ratio: 12.7%; rating input score 13
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: -6.6%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.36; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.97; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 32.9%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 177.2% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 98.5% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -11.4% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 13.6% of revenue deployed · 12.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 2 of 2 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $33K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $86K · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 14/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 27/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.