Carrying Hope

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
812799960
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
5126638419
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Foster Care

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$353,306
Expenses
$308,132
Assets
$118,355
Liabilities
$4,689

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Maria Fechter (President)
  • Brooke Ames (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Maria Fechter (President)
  • Brooke Ames (Vice President)
  • Abeer Thomson (Secretary)

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

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

Overview

Mission

Giving a Hope Pack filled with comfort items and necessities to every child entering the foster care system in Texas.

What it reported doing in 2025

Hope Packs: We distributed thousands of Hope Packs, positively impacting more than 7,000 foster youth and the families caring for them in Texas. Donated $8,000 toward activities, special events, and gift cards for more than 300 foster youth living in local shelters and group homes.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 77% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 64
  • Sustainability: 46
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.5%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 78.5%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.91 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.8%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.38; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.6% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2.7% per year; rating input score 0; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.5% of revenue deployed · 78.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $242K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.