Unchained Melodies Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 475487625
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2023–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2022, Form 990-N 2015
- Location
- Columbia, MO, USA
- Phone
- 5738148073
- Rating
- 65
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Animal Protection and Welfare
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $334,212
- Expenses
- $279,401
- Assets
- $238,027
- Liabilities
- $7,000
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Melody Whitworth (Director / President / Executive Director)
Highest reported compensation
- Melody Whitworth (Director / President / Executive Director): $60,000 total reported compensation
- Ronnye Gayle Randall (Director / Treasurer / Business Administrator): $48,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Unchained Melodies Inc is devoted to freeing dogs from life on a chain, isolation in a pen, and other inhumane conditions all across Missouri. We rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome dogs who have been forgotten, abused, or left behind, providing them with medical care, behavioral support, and ultimately, loving indoor homes. Through community outreach, education, advocacy, and spay/neuter initiatives, we work to address the root causes of neglect and overpopulation. Every dog we rescue, heal, or keep safely in their home brings us one step closer to ending the cycle of suffering.
What it reported doing in 2025
Education Community Outreach Program: Provided education and training to volunteers, the public and organizations in order to prevent and/or intervene on behalf of animals in life threatening, abusive and/or neglectful situations and environments. Offer dog training classes to keep dogs inside the family home. Community outreach to animals in at-risk situations.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 80% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and program spending has grown recently. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of voting board members are independent.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 58
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 33
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 59.4%; rating input score 59
- Program expense ratio: 70.5%; rating input score 70
- Fundraising efficiency: $4.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
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: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 33.3%; rating input score 33; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 16.4%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.85; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 38.7%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 15.4% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 17.1% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 59.4% of revenue deployed · 70.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 1 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $197K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 3 filing years from 2023 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: Mission deployment rate scored 59/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 33/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 8 not reported.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 20/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 37/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.