Do the Write Thing C/o Blakely & Weeks-thome Pllc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 201336966
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Houston, TX, USA
- Phone
- 7132660110
- Rating
- 69
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Delinquency Prevention
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $92,427
- Expenses
- $63,246
- Assets
- $190,653
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
3 people listed
People named in this filing
- JUDGE ROBERT ECKELS (DIR/PRES/SEC)
- JANE WETZEL (DIR/PRES/SEC)
- LARRY W MASSEY (DIR/TREASURE)
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
Youth delinquency prevention
What it reported doing in 2024
The Texas do the write thing challenge is both an educational and a youth anti-violence/anti-bullying program implemented in schools as a curriculum supplement. It is a writing competition directed to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students who are asked to examine the effect violence has had on them, determine the causes, and propose solutions. The lesson plan (updated annually from real-life scenarios) provides for classroom discussion before writing begins. It is designed to facilitate critical thinking and foster a sense of personal responsibility. Each child who writes receives a certificate of recognition. More than 30,000 students from more than 15 schools in nine metropolitan areas in Texas submitted papers, with many more participating in classroom discussions. Volunteer readers from community groups evaluate each manuscript and select a boy and girl from each school as a "school finalist". Recognition ceremonies are conducted in each site to honor these students, their parents, teachers, principals and superintendents. From the finalists, one boy and one girl from each metropolitan area are selected as "national finalists". These students are invited to convene and participate in the recognition week in Washington dc. Events of the week include participating in workshops where they share their ideas about anti-violence and anti-bullying with other national finalists from around the country. A compilation of all of the national finalists' writings are presented to the library of congress.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 99% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 98% 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 most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 56
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 76
- Sustainability: 65
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 53.7%; rating input score 54
- Program expense ratio: 78.5%; rating input score 78
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: 31.6%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.01; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -9.6% per year; rating input score 0; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -8.5% per year; rating input score 0; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 53.7% of revenue deployed · 78.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 3 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $50K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
- Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- 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 54/100.
- Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.