A Committment to Our Roots Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 311742604
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Lake Balboa, CA, USA
- Phone
- 6266766354
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Christianity
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $444,898
- Expenses
- $617,283
- Assets
- $695,445
- Liabilities
- $7,809
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JIM McLAUCHLIN (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JIM McLAUCHLIN (PRESIDENT): $100,000 total reported compensation
- CHRISTINA ARROBIO (DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR): $60,000 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Hero Initiative is the FIRST ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. HERO creates a financial safey net for yesterdays creators who may need emergency medical aid.
What it reported doing in 2024
Hero is dedicated to helping comic book creators in need. Hero has assisted over 100+ creators since inception in 2000. Hero raises funds by selling artwork & comic books at comic book conventions throughout the country.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 62% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 79
- Transparency & Controls: 94
- Accountability: 63
- Sustainability: 23
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 98.7%; rating input score 99
- Program expense ratio: 71.1%; rating input score 71
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 22
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -38.7%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.13; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 25.9%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 98.7% of revenue deployed · 71.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 15 board members independent · 2 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $439K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $100K · 16 people listed
- Consistency: 23 of 24 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- 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.
Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 7/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.
- Review — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization could not be resolved against the register, so the check is unfinished.