Bridges to Life
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 760588279
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Houston, TX, USA
- Phone
- 7134637200
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Inmate Support
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,596,251
- Expenses
- $1,658,283
- Assets
- $2,614,577
- Liabilities
- $40,000
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
10 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JOHN SAGE (FOUNDER AND CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- JOHN SAGE (FOUNDER AND CEO): $198,500 total reported compensation
- JAMES G BUFFINGTON (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $145,139 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 mission is to reduce crime by reducing the recidivism rate of released inmates. By participating in face to face sessions inside the prison both victims and offenders participate in a restorative justice process.
What it reported doing in 2024
The Mission is to reduce crime by reducing the recidivism rate of released inmates. By participating in face to face sessions inside the prison, both victims and offenders participate in a restorative justice process.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 95% 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 - 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: 83
- Transparency & Controls: 66
- Accountability: 94
- Sustainability: 38
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 90.6%; rating input score 91
- Program expense ratio: 86.7%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: $9.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- 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: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 22nd 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: -3.9%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.58; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 20.7%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 10.5% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 90.6% of revenue deployed · 86.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $198K · 10 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 18 of 20 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
- 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.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 14/100.