Avenue Community Development Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
760380602
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
7138648099
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Housing Development, Construction, Management

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,205,049
Expenses
$8,744,333
Assets
$57,620,103
Liabilities
$35,972,535

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Daniel Ortiz (President (as of 02/25))
  • Michael Tate Barkley (President (thru 02/25))
  • John Price (Vice President)
  • Elgin Weaver (Vice President)
  • Mary Lawler (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mary Lawler (CEO): $172,096 total reported compensation
  • Karen Briggs Gwin (CFO): $161,804 total reported compensation
  • Ash Hussain (Director of Finance): $126,383 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The mission of Avenue Community Development Corporation ("Avenue") is to invest in people, homes and communities to advance opportunity for all Houstonians. Continued on Schedule O. Avenue's vision is for all Houstonians to have the opportunity to live in quality homes in healthy, vibrant, and inclusive neighborhoods to ensure Houston's future as a world class city.

What it reported doing in 2025

Community Initiatives: Fosters resident engagement, leadership, and collaboration to strengthen neighborhoods. Activities include life-skills training, civic engagement, volunteerism, and advocacy for community improvements. By working with residents, government agencies, community organizations, and businesses, Avenue helps increase public safety, beautify neighborhoods, promote health and wellness, improve educational outcomes, and support local arts and culture.

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 98% 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

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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 81
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 81.6%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $7.3 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0

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: -21.4%; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.59; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.62; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.5% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 81.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $7.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $172K · 20 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $1.4M reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 39 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 10 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 31 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 4/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 40/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.