Back to Basics Ministries
Legal name: Back to Basics Outreach Ministries
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 161509888
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2011–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Buffalo, NY, US
- Phone
- 7168541086
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Christianity
- Affiliation
- Christianity
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,316,274
- Expenses
- $1,908,586
- Assets
- $1,048,608
- Liabilities
- $395,780
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
12 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JAMES E GILES (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- JAMES E GILES (PRESIDENT): $60,400 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To respond to the needs of the community by providing special services for at-risk individuals, families, and groups, addressing poverty, lack of support systems, trauma, addiction, mental illness, homelessness, and criminal activity.
What it reported doing in 2024
Buffalo peacemakers and snug violence prevention program - works with residents, businesses, and community based organizations to implement coordinated strategies to reduce and prevent shootings and killings in communities with high rates of violent crimes. Also provides proactive intervention into the cycle of violence in the lives of gang-involved or at-risk youth.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 74% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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 - 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 68
- Transparency & Controls: 81
- Accountability: 69
- Sustainability: 52
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 71%; rating input score 71
- Program expense ratio: 86.2%; rating input score 86
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 1st 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: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Fail
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 17.6%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.55; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 3.2%; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 11.5% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 14% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 17.5% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 71% of revenue deployed · 86.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $60K · 12 people listed
- Consistency: 21 of 24 current checks pass · 3 findings to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2011 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
- 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.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 19/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D expense reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D revenue reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.