Brillante Academy

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
844218577
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Mission, TX, USA
Phone
9564743242
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Charter Schools

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,094,556
Expenses
$5,550,416
Assets
$25,067,167
Liabilities
$24,763,785

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Aaron Brenner (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Ana Karen Salinas (Superintendent): $94,148 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Brillante Academy is on a mission to help children grow into people of good character and spirit, and to be prepared for excellence in high school, college, and beyond.

What it reported doing in 2024

Brillante Academy launched in August of 2023 at the request of the Rio Grande Valley community and after years of diligent preparation. The Academy is thrilled to serve the region by developing students who lead lives of excellence, virtue, purpose, and impact. The Academy educated approximately 350 students from Pre-K through 2nd grade during fiscal year 2024-2025. The Academy will continue to grow until reaching eighth grade.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 87% 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

STRONG - 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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 92.5%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -8.9%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.52; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.99; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.7%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 78.7% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 64.3% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 76.8% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 92.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.1M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $94K · 8 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $437K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2021 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 14/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.