Christian Outreach Center of Baton Rouge

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
300123976
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Phone
2257513262
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Alcohol, Drug and Substance Abuse, Dependency Prevention and Treatment
Affiliation
Christianity

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,465,250
Expenses
$5,330,894
Assets
$654,074
Liabilities
$222,358

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • REV GERRIT DAWSON (PRESIDENT)
  • SUMMER DANN (VICE-PRESIDENT)
  • BRIAN SLEETH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRIAN SLEETH (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $147,451 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We are a christ-centered homeless intervention ministry in baton rouge. Essentially, our organization is focused on self-sufficiency and restored dignity through employment. Did that not solve the problem? Check out this help doc with more tips and ways to resolve the issues. Of course you can always contact support and we'd be happy to help! I’m just passing through. What the heck is this?

What it reported doing in 2024

Essential and sustainabilty services for those experiencing and at risk of homeless: our essential services offer assistance with stabilizing our clients' circumstances through providing items such as breakfasts, hygiene kits, clothing, bus passes, id's, and birth certificates. Our biggest essential service is our weekly grocery assistance program. We receive clients through word-of-mouth, referrals, and through community outreach. Our sustainability services is our seven week job readiness/financial education class in north baton rouge. Class participants receive employment case management and up to $600 in utility assistance. They are also provided transportation to and from class, if needed. We also provide this same class in east baton rouge parish prison for pre-trial incarcerated individuals in a program called "handup". Class participants in handup receive a stipend.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 93.4%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • 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: 2.5%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.12; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.34; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.8%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 17% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 15.7% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.5% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 93.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $147K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 3/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.