Combined Arms

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
475648923
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
8887373112
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Support N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,784,768
Expenses
$6,654,436
Assets
$2,266,677
Liabilities
$2,276,004

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

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Mike Hutchings (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Mike Hutchings (CEO): $200,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Combined arms (ca) delivers innovative technology solutions that optimize connection to resources and drive network-wide efficiencies, ultimately improving the quality of life for veterans and military families.

What it reported doing in 2024

Combined Arms connects service members, veterans, and their families to the vital resources they need to thrive, both in Texas and across the nation. In 2024, Combined Arms served 28,428 unique veterans, service members and their families through the Texas Veterans Network. Combined Arms raises the standard of how we support and empower those who've served our country. Our platform unifies 350 veteran-focused nonprofits with 1,200+ resources to provide data-fueled insights, creating an unmatched level of transparency. Connecting the right resources to the right people at the right time to enable the veteran community and their families to continually thrive. Combined Arms is dedicated to meeting the needs of veterans and military families through various impactful initiatives. We provide one-on-one resource navigation support and create opportunities for veterans to access immediate resources like food at our monthly veteran mobile food pantries across Texas. By leveraging advanced technology, a dedicated team, and strong community partnerships, Combined Arms ensures that veterans and their families can easily access best-in-class social services and resources to address their immediate, ongoing, and future needs.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 67% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 16
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 97.8%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 85%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97.7%; rating input score 98; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -15%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.34; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 1; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 27% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 20.6% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.1% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 97.8% of revenue deployed · 85% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $200K · 18 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $576K reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 37 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 11/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Audit committee oversight not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 5/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.