Deaf Action Center

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
751575599
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Dallas, TX, USA
Phone
2145210407
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Ear and Throat Diseases

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,789,473
Expenses
$2,494,480
Assets
$4,559,166
Liabilities
$2,765,775

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL MCLAURIN (President)
  • LISA WYLY (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • HEATHER HUGHES (Executive Dir.): $85,756 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Providing those who are deaf and hard of hearing the means to ensure advancement through education, communication, economic security and good health.

What it reported doing in 2024

Communication: DAC's interpreting department has a staff of certified sign language interpreters available to provide critical communication accessibility 24 hours a day. Communication services are provided to entities who need to communicate with their consumers who are deaf or hard of hearing. Communication services also include Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) and Communication Access Real-time translators (CART). The interpreting department is dedicated to delivering equal communication access for the deaf and hard of hearing community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 69% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

STRONG - 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 some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 77.1%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.73 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th 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: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.6%; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.83; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.61; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.4%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.6% per year; rating input score 100; 57th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69% of revenue deployed · 77.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 8 filed program accomplishments · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $86K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 59/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.