Bright Hopes

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
261693910
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2009
Location
Charlotte, NC, USA
Phone
7047231194
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$13,850
Expenses
$13,278
Assets
$3,425
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Gwendolyn Forney (President and Director)

People named in this filing

  • Bonnie Phillips (Board of Director)
  • Gwendolyn Forney (President and Director)
  • Tawana Gladden (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Bright Hopes is a nonprofit community organization organized to implement projects that stimulate improved school attendance of students. We encourage and support responsible school attendance so youth can be successful in school and have positive choices in their future.

What it reported doing in 2025

Bright Hopes kept youth learning by supporting them with staying connected to their school. We provided information and connections to community supportive resources and encouraged youth with incentives and motivating activities. We also provided snacks to keep youth encouraged. It is hard to learn if you are hungry. Sometimes youth just need a responsible adult to listen to them. We provided food and food connections, and we advocated for families who needed support for their basic needs of clothing, food, and shelter. We provided laundry supplies and support when needed.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 60.8%; rating input score 61
  • Program expense ratio: 63.4%; rating input score 63

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.1%; rating input score 52; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.26; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.1%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -7.8% per year; rating input score 0; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -6.1% per year; rating input score 0; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 60.8% of revenue deployed · 63.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • 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 — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 21/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 52/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.