Cherish Our Children Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
760393617
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
7138369147
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Relief

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$265,060
Expenses
$291,626
Assets
$347,588
Liabilities
$156,639

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

People named in this filing

  • ASHLEY ALLEN (Director)
  • SHARON MILLS (Treasurer)
  • DARRELL ROSENTHAL (Director)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Cherish Our Children Inc. (COCI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to create sustainable solutions for vulnerable children. Historically, COCI has supported projects for vulnerable children around the world, but its most recent and notable program has focused on children of incarcerated parents. These services are provided through the Gaining Empowerment in Middle School (GEMS) program, the only program in Houston focused exclusively on middle school-aged children of incarcerated parents. The schools currently offering GEMS are in low-performing areas with student populations that are between 86-97% Black or Hispanic and are in communities where Census Bureau research predicts that 1-in-5 male students will be incarcerated as adults. All the students at the schools qualify for the federal free or reduced-price lunch program, 21% demonstrate limited English proficiency, and 60-73% of students are at risk of dropping out. GEMS provides in-school classes focusing on a

What it reported doing in 2024

COCI has strategically refined and enhanced the Gaining Empowerment in Middle School (GEMS) program. It is the only program in Houston focused exclusively on middle school-aged children of incarcerated parents. GEMS provides curriculum-based, in-school classes focusing on a peer-to-peer, discussion-based model that emphasizes self-discovery and strengthens nine proven cognitive, social, and emotional skills sets to empower youth leadership. During FY 2022, we purchased a new social and emotional learning software that is more user-friendly. This software provides our instructors with additional resources to increase student engagement, as well as enhanced data assessment and reporting features. As a result, this software will further help the GEMS program become more operationally sound.Lastly, during 2022, the GEMS program successfully and effectively provided social and emotional learning opportunities across 6 campuses for 72 at-risk students and their families in the Houston Independent School District, Channelview Independent School District and Aldine Independent School District. In addition to providing services to our youth, ancillary information and referral support services to other community-based organizations was also provided to support the families of the participating students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 65% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.6%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 63.2%; rating input score 63
  • Fundraising efficiency: $2.87 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 13; 13th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -10%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.19; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.45; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.4% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.6% of revenue deployed · 63.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $184K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 13/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 12/100.