Trucha

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
853104670
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
McAllen, TX, USA
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts, Cultural Organizations - Multipurpose

Reported finances

Revenue
$634,372
Expenses
$866,898
Assets
$609,648
Liabilities
$256

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Josue Ramirez (Director): $73,042 total reported compensation
  • Omar Casas (Director): $70,354 total reported compensation
  • Leonardo Rodriguez (Director): $69,728 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Trucha's mission is to inform our readers, inspire our community, and build a collective infrastructure to proudly share the stories of our Gente for the world. Our vision is to sustain a platform to showcase the authentic stories and the creativity of our community and cultivate a grassroots narrative of the frontera.

What it reported doing in 2025

Editorial Program- Published 130 articles (60 arts/culture, 70 social justice), with 1/3 of published works (39 articles) community written, 2/3 written in house (91 articles) awarded 2026 Pluma Libre fellowship, published Truchita Zine: 1 zine per quarter.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 55.5%; rating input score 56
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.59 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th 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: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -36.7%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.7; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 36.4%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 44.7% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 34.2% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 37.1% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76% of revenue deployed · 55.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 6 filed program accomplishments · $481K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $73K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.