Austin Explore Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
205496495
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2009
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
5123208899
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Remedial Reading, Reading Encouragement

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,671,458
Expenses
$1,924,793
Assets
$5,869,555
Liabilities
$633,184

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KATHLEEN SCHNEEMAN (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KATHLEEN SCHNEEMAN (CEO): $162,124 total reported compensation
  • LAUREN ZURBRUGG (CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER): $140,289 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Explore austin empowers youth to reach their full potential through mentoring, leadership, and outdoor adventure.

What it reported doing in 2025

Explore austin accepts 6th grade boys and girls, and makes a six-year commitment to help them develop the skills, tools, and habits they will need to become effective leaders. Through a combination of mentoring and outdoor adventures, explore austin has created a six-year curriculum around its aces framework. Our curriculum is built upon the idea that by taking its committed explores, placing them in a unique environment, and giving them problem-solving tasks and challenges, explorers will develop the character traits necessary to be effective leaders.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 55
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 72
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 35.4%; rating input score 35
  • Program expense ratio: 84.4%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $24.06 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 58.8%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.05; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 15.7%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 35.4% of revenue deployed · 84.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $162K · 18 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 35/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 47/100.