Asia Society Texas Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
030433949
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
7134969901
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Cultural, Ethnic Awareness

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,992,856
Expenses
$6,739,007
Assets
$72,058,811
Liabilities
$711,704

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

Leadership & pay

32 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BONNA KOL (PRESIDENT/CE)

Highest reported compensation

  • BONNA KOL (PRESIDENT/CE): $352,922 total reported compensation
  • SOPHIA WONG (VP, FIN., HR): $173,857 total reported compensation
  • SALEENA JAFRY (VP, DEVELOPM): $135,495 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Across the fields of performing arts, visual arts, education and outreach, business & policy, astc provides insight, generates ideas, and promotes collaboration to address present challenges and create a shared future. Astc operates as a separate 501(c)(3) organization and has an affiliate relationship with asia society, a global network.

What it reported doing in 2024

The business and policy department of asia society Texas fosters a better understanding of our interconnected world through programming that elevates dialogue and ideas to combat bias and connects houstonians with global business and thought leaders, authors, scholars, diplomats, and policy experts. Our programs are primarily in-person at asia society Texas. In fy24-25, we hosted 24 in-person programs and welcomed 3,010 guests. Key b&p programs included discussions on u.s. Foreign policy, including programs looking at both us-korean and us-turkish relations, the careers of dynamic female diplomats, global architecture, healthcare innovations, economic linkages between Texas and japan, and diplomatic roundtables with the u.s. Ambassador to vietnam and taiwan's representative to the u.s. This year, we also incorporated a guided tasting of australian wine and a us-japan sister cities sake tasting event. The annual huffington award dinner honored cole chemical president and ceo and longtime houston community leader donna cole. Notable speakers included msnbc journalist ali velshi, world-renowned architect farshid moussavi, nbc news anchor vicky nguyen, New York times bestselling author alka joshi, former ambassador david satterfield, and mitsubishi heavy industries ceo takajiro ishikawa.

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 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.
  • 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 some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 90.9%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15.7%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.69; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.4%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 90.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 28 of 28 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $6.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $353K · 32 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $443K reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 30/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.