Catholic Literary Arts

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
833297591
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2023, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
7135249404
Rating
67
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Arts Education
Affiliation
Christianity

Reported finances

Revenue
$187,228
Expenses
$184,309
Assets
$184,261
Liabilities
$49,679

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SARAH CORTEZ (PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARAH CORTEZ (PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER): $19,500 total reported compensation
  • GONZALO A RAMOS (DIRECTOR OF MARKETING): $6,500 total reported compensation
  • MARIA K ILLICH (SECRETARY): $2,600 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Catholic Literary Arts encourages ongoing growth in literary, artistic, and spiritual development of artists and writers so that the Cultural Patrimony and rich treasures of the Catholic Church may be more perfectly explored and used to draw all peoples to God.

What it reported doing in 2024

Other program services include the following: Lesson Plan Project: a resource for professional educators and homeschooling parents to teach creative writing in grades 3-12.In-School Writing Program: A weekly program during the academic year to teach creative writing at schools, grades 3-8.Teen Mentorship Program: An annual cohort of high-school students are taught creative writing skills and assisted in entering contests and submitting writing to journals and magazines.Writing Contests: Competitive contests to encourage writing about sacred subjects using best-practices writing skills.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 73% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 69% for direct work, and 31% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 47
  • Transparency & Controls: 96
  • Accountability: 75
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 52.3%; rating input score 52
  • Program expense ratio: 53.2%; rating input score 53
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.6%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.4%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 31.1% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 36.6% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 52.3% of revenue deployed · 53.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 9 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $98K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $20K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 52/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 53/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 41/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 22/100.